Stand or Fall
by EclipseOfTheHeartAndSoul
Summary: Anna Fahlett, an agent of the S.S.R, had been working alongside Peggy, Howard and Dr. Erskine for many years. Falling in love was the last thing on her mind—but, after meeting Steve Rogers at the World Expo, she realises that sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you've found it. CA:TFA Steve/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way**.

 **A huge thank you to my wonderful, amazing Beta— _NeahZoldyck13—_ who has been an absolute blessing for the past few days!**

* * *

 **Chapter One  
**

 _ **June 14th, 1943**_

"Are you sure there's no way I can... _persuade_ you to change your mind?"

Howard Stark's flirty voice and suggestive wink caused me to snort lightly and shake my head in a mixture of amused fondness and exasperation. The playboy genius was currently looking rather dashing in his tailored black suit and tie, causing the showgirls—who were on the other side of the back room from us—to frequently look over and not-so-quietly giggle amongst themselves, eyes roving over his lean frame.

"Not this time, Howie. Not this time."

My lips tugged up into a smirk at Stark's resulting pout as I declined his offer for what felt like the fiftieth time this evening, trying to resist the urge to roll my eyes at this grown man-child that had, somehow, become one of my closest friends. I reached forward, my hand instantly going to playfully ruffle his, unusually, neatly combed hair, as I always did whenever he pulled that face. I couldn't help but let out a low chuckle when he ducked out of my reach just in time to avoid my touch; the routine normal and familiar between us.

My smirk widened when Howard shot me a half-hearted glare and raised a brow, silently questioning whether I believed he'd ever actually _let_ me do that. I nodded my head slightly, eyes glinting in challenge, as if to say _one day_. I ignored his answering snort of disbelief—effectively ending our silent conversation—and, instead, merely raised myself onto my toes to give him an affectionate peck on the cheek in encouragement.

"You'll do fine," I murmured reassuringly.

His carefree expression never changed, and, to anyone else, he either never heard the softly-spoken words or didn't care enough to react. But I knew him better: I caught the almost unnoticeable slump of his shoulders as his slightly tensed muscles relaxed and the minuscule flare of his nostrils as he let out the breath he had been holding.

"Of course I will. I'm Howard Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy…" Howard winked as he trailed off, practically oozing cool arrogance. The small flash of gratitude in his dark brown eyes was the only outward sign of his appreciation for my quiet, albeit unnecessary, reassurance. He'd do brilliantly, he always did. A fact that, unfortunately, we _both_ knew.

"I'll leave you to finish getting ready then. I'm sure you're just _dying_ to get some alone time with your stage-girls to 'practice the routine' and all," I teased, sending a pointed look to the showgirls getting ready on the other side of the room.

Howard let out a low laugh, eyes sparkling as he also glanced in their direction, causing a few of them to quickly blush and look away, nervous giggles softly filling the air at being caught in their ogling. He soon returned his gaze to me, however, the flirty smile on his face giving away what he was about to ask. "Are you su—"

I cut him off before he could ask me that damned question one more time. "If I wasn't already sure, that would've just done it," I snarked. A chuckle escaped me at his feigned wounded expression. "I should probably go find Abe whilst you… _prepare_. He'll probably be wondering where I am by now. I can't wait to see the show though, Howie. Try not to tire the showgirls out too much beforehand, ey?"

With a wink and final encouraging smile thrown over my shoulder, I turned and walked towards the exit of the back room they were currently occupying, a distinct bounce to my step. I hadn't had the chance to explore earlier, so I was determined to look at a few 'future technologies' that the Expo showcased on my way to find Abe.

"Have I ever told you how much I love looking at you from behind?" Howard called after me, his usual flirty tone apparent.

I didn't even pause in my stride, too used to his harmless flirting by now, and instead casually flipped him off over my shoulder. He cackled gleefully and shouted out a snarky quip—that I dutifully ignored—about my 'unladylike behaviour'. I snorted as I stepped out into the main Expo and shut the door firmly after me, leaving Howard and his constant pestering for me to become one of his showgirls tonight behind.

XxXxXx

"Ladies and gentlemen! Mr Howard Stark!"

My head snapped up at the faint announcement and my eyes widened slightly as the words registered in my mind. _What? Was it time for the show already? How…?_

I swore quietly under my breath as I realised how distracted I had become looking at all of the different displays on my way to find Abe. I silently apologised to the doctor in my mind as I turned away from the Synthetic Man display I had just been curiously examining and weaved my way through the gathering crowd.

The music started and a spotlight beamed down onto a confident Howard as he ran onto the stage, bowing in an over-exaggerated fashion to the applauding crowd before him. I pulled to a stop when I was in the front row of the gathered audience, just in time to see Howard give his hat to one of the showgirls and pull her into a short kiss. I snorted and rolled my eyes at the rather typical display of Howard behaviour, raising an amused brow when he caught sight of me afterwards and shot me a wink.

"Ladies and gentlemen! What if I told you that, in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all? With Stark Gravitic Reversion technology, you'll be able to do just that."

Howard messed with the controls in front of him for a moment before he smiled and held his hand out in a sweeping motion, gesturing to the car that was beginning to hover behind him. I vaguely heard someone mutter "Holy cow" somewhere in the crowd and smiled, happy (and slightly proud, although I'd never admit it) for Howard.

But then, all of a sudden, the reversion technology that had replaced the wheels of the car suddenly sparked and blew out. I winced as the car crashed to the ground with a loud bang and the crowd flinched back around me, surprised mutters filling the air. I couldn't help but notice Howard's face fall slightly and gave a sad smile, knowing how disappointed he must be feeling that this didn't go as perfectly as he had hoped.

Howard straightened and fixed his charming smile back in place, turning to the crowd with a wink. "I did say a few years, didn't I?"

I smiled at his quick recovery, sending him an encouraging nod and a small wave of farewell when he looked my way again, knowing I had kept Abe waiting for long enough. At Howard's retuned nod of farewell, I turned and started to weave my way back through the heavy throng of people, heading for the enlistment area where I knew the doctor would be.

I mentally cursed when a solid body barged into me just as I managed to break free from the worst of the crowds, causing me to flail back from the force of the collision. "Hey! Watch where you're going, little lady!" the culprit of the shove, an arrogant businessman, snapped irritably as he took off without even a backwards glance over his shoulder, never mind an apology.

I tried uselessly to regain my balance for a moment before landing hard on the ground with a muffled groan. I let my head drop back to the floor with an irritated huff, eyes fluttering closed as I tried to find the will to get back up, not much caring that I was just led in the middle of the crowded Expo. _Why did these things always happen to me?_

"Are you okay, ma'am?"

I peeked an eye open at the low voice, feeling a slight twinge of embarrassment when I saw a blonde head worriedly peering down at me. "Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to look at the stars?"

"Not really," he admitted honestly, lips twitching into a small smile, "given we're under a gazebo right now."

I looked past his head and let out a quiet grunt when I realised we were, in fact, under a large canopy of fabric. "It was worth a try," I muttered with a shrug. The blonde let out a laugh and I smiled. "But in that case, I guess I don't have much of an excuse other than needing a moment."

He frowned slightly. "Bad day?"

"I've had better," I conceded with a soft laugh. Footsteps echoed past my head and I let out a low sigh. "I suppose I should probably get up."

The blonde smiled and offered a hand down to me. "Unless you want footprints on your forehead, that may be a good idea."

I chuckled and gratefully accepted his hand, quickly pulling myself upright with his help and regaining my footing. When I was fully standing once more, I finally had a chance to properly take in the kindhearted stranger before me. He was an inch or so shorter than my, admittedly not very tall, self, standing at what I guessed to be around 5'4". And, at first glance, his clothes appeared to be a few sizes too big for him. Upon closer inspection, however, I realised that it was just the way they hung off of his small frame. His jaw and cheekbones were almost too prominent in his face. That, coupled with the frail-looking stature of his body, told me that he most likely suffered from a potentially serious medical condition that caused him to be pretty severely underweight. I'd guess that he couldn't weigh more than around 90lbs.

And yet, despite all that, I couldn't help but notice that there was something about him, something different that I couldn't quite put my finger on, something that unexplainably drew me in. My eyes trailed over him again, taking note of the things that I'd missed at first glance: his shoes were freshly polished to the point where they were gleaming and looked brand new, his dark blonde hair was ever-so-neatly combed to rest perfectly on his head, and his jacket, even with it hanging off of his small frame, looked smart and reasonably expensive, as if he had tried his hardest to look good for tonight.

But it was his eyes that caught my attention the most: beautiful deep blue irises that held a gentleness, a kindness, in them that seemed to be becoming so increasingly rare in the world now. And, as his gaze briefly flickered to the glowing enlistment sign behind me, I noticed the way his jaw set in defiance and his eyes glinted with steely determination, showing a fight in him that completely defied his small stature and the ailments that clearly plagued him. It made me smile despite myself, finding myself inexplicably intrigued by the man standing before me.

I cleared my throat slightly when I realised, with a twinge of embarrassment, that I had been staring at him for a few moments too long to be considered appropriate. "I'm Anna," I introduced softly, offering my hand to him once more. "Anna Fahlett."

"Steve Rogers." The blonde nodded with a small smile, grasping my proffered hand in a surprisingly gentle hold before he lightly shook it in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"And you, Mr Rogers," I returned sincerely. "Thank you for…" I waved a hand towards where I had just been led on the floor in explanation.

"There's no need to thank me," Steve murmured. "I just did what anyone else would."

"Well, 'anyone else' didn't stop," I retorted with a small smile, gesturing to the mass of bodies moving around us, "so thank you."

"No problem, ma'am."

I grimaced slightly. "Please, it's Anna. Being called ma'am makes me feel like I'm a lot damn older than I am."

He nodded. "Then please, call me Steve." The blonde sent me a small smile before his eyes flickered down between us and he cleared his throat, cheeks darkening. "I'm so sorry… I didn't realise…"

I didn't understand what Steve was stuttering about until he suddenly released his hold on my hand, unaware that they were still joined. I chuckled and sent him a reassuring smile. "It's fine, Steve."

The small blonde let out a relieved sigh and relaxed slightly, gaze briefly flickering to the enlistment building behind me once more.

I caught the direction of his gaze. "Were you going to enlist?"

Steve returned his attention to me at the question and nodded slightly, blue eyes bright with determination. "I thought I'd try."

I swore I heard him mutter something like "sixth time's the charm" under his breath, but brushed it off as nothing when he shot me a weak smile moments later.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. We all have our part to play in this war, unfortunately," I murmured with a small frown, hating the sad truth of my words. I shook my head and gestured in the direction of the building behind me. "I'm headed that way too. Mind if I walk with you?"

Steve immediately nodded and hesitantly offered his arm out with a small smile, causing me to grin brightly as I stepped forward and slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow. We turned and started to slowly walk towards the building together, taking our time as we carefully weaved through the steady mass of people milling around the fair.

"It's admirable, you know," I commented, "wanting to fight for your country."

Steve shrugged slightly and let out a quiet sigh. "I'm just trying to do what's right."

"By going to war?" I questioned, cocking a brow slightly.

He glanced at me for a moment and shook his head. "By trying to end it."

I couldn't help but smile at the answer, becoming more and more intrigued by him the longer we talked. "Not many men talk like that anymore. To most, enlisting is all about girls, glory and stroking their male egos."

"It isn't right," Steve frowned, sounding genuinely outraged about it as we continued to stroll through the thinning crowds.

"No, it isn't," I agreed. I eyed him for a moment, lips unconsciously tugging up at the corners. "Maybe things will change though."

Steve glanced at me in surprise and nodded. "I hope so."

"I think they already are," I murmured softly. Steve ducked his head in embarrassment at my pointed look, causing my smile to grow.

I sighed as we finally entered the main section of the enlistment building and regretfully glanced down the hallway to where the back rooms were located.

"I would love to stay and talk longer, but I'm afraid I'm meant to be meeting someone." I gently squeezed the arm that my hand was still looped through before letting my grip fall away, turning to face him fully. "It was nice to meet you though, Steve. And I promise that next time we meet, I won't be sprawled pitifully across the floor." I paused and smirked. "Well… hopefully, anyway."

"Next time?" Steve voiced, head cocked to the side in question.

"Call it a feeling." I winked, turning and starting to make my way down the hallway before he could respond. I paused a few steps away though, briefly turning to look back at him over my shoulder. "Oh, and Steve? Good luck."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello, and welcome to _Stand or Fall!_**

 **Okay, I'm just going to fess up and come out with it straight away: I'm extremely new to the Marvel fandom. In fact, I only saw my first Marvel film a couple of months ago (it was Thor, if anyone's interested) and have been strangely addicted ever since!** **The idea for this story has been nagging at me ever since I saw _Captain America: The First Avenger_ a little while ago, so I decided to just write it out and see how it goes!**

 **Sorry about the short chapter, by the way. This is more of an introduction to the story—so don't worry, I am planning for the other chapters to be longer than this one!**

 **Random Trivia**

 **Different sources say Steve was different heights. Originally, I was going to go off his army enlistment forms stating his height at 5'7", but then I decided to go with the poster on display at the Captain America exhibit Steve visits in CA:TWS that states he was 5'4" pre-serum. This could just be propaganda in which they over-exaggerate the difference between the before and after serum Steve, but for the purpose of this story it works so I'm rolling with that.**

 **—**

 **Let me know how I'm doing! I'd love to hear your feedback, guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Thanks to my wonderful Beta— _NeahZoldyck13—_ for being such a huge help! You're amazing!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Abe raised a brow and eyed the wide smile on my face affectionately. "Dare I ask what has made you so happy, Anna?"

"They're selling cotton candy at half price outside," I quipped innocently, smirking slightly when he shot me an exasperated look. I shook my head after a moment and answered him honestly. "Let's just say my faith in humanity has just been restored."

"They must have been an extraordinary person," Abe commented casually, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. He turned away to hide his sly smile and pretended to shuffle some papers on the desk in front of him. "A male, perhaps?"

"The guy running the cotton candy stall? Yeah, he was pretty extraordinary. He even offered me some for free after I explained to him how much Howard had been harassing me to become a showgirl tonight," I teased lightly, faking obliviousness to his not-so-subtle questioning. A small snort left me when he turned back around with an amused quirk of his lips and an exasperated sigh, raising my hands in front of me in surrender. "Okay, okay. Yes."

I eyed him suspiciously as the sparkle in his warm orbs brightened. "He must have been an amazing man to bring such a smile to your face, no?"

"You're impossible," I sighed fondly with a small roll of the eyes. An idea sparked in my mind as I remembered the conversation I had with Steve and the way his eyes had glanced so longingly towards the enlistment sign as we spoke. "You would have loved him though, Abe."

"I don't doubt you, Fräulein. Any man who can earn your respect so quickly is undoubtedly one who I would want to meet."

I paused for a moment. "I think he's someone we should consider for Project Rebirth, Abe. I know I only met him for a moment, but there was something so different about him... Call it a gut feeling, if you will."

He opened his mouth to respond when a loud knock sounded on the door, pulling us out of our conversation as Abe called for them to enter. A nurse popped her head round the door a moment later, sending us an apologetic smile for interrupting before she cleared her throat lightly. "Dr. Erskine, Agent Fahlett; the potential candidate for Project Rebirth has finished his medical examination and is ready for you to question, as you requested."

We both nodded in response, shooting one last look at each other, before we followed the nurse out of the room we were in and down the hall. We were almost to the medical examination rooms when the sound of a quiet argument reached my ears, the vague familiarity of one of the voices causing me to pause mid-stride. My eyes scanned the people walking down the hallway in search for the source of the hushed argument, before I eventually caught sight of the two men standing just inside the entrance to the enlistment area. The taller of the two was wearing a military uniform, his undeniably handsome face contorted in frustration and worry as he stared down at the smaller man standing before him.

My gaze drifted towards the shorter of the two and I immediately started to walk closer, a smile unconsciously tugging at my lips. I instantly recognized him as the owner of the voice I had previously found familiar—it was Steve. I remained unnoticed by the two as I paused a few feet away from them, their now distinguishable words unintentionally stopping me in place as curiosity stirred within me, wondering what the two men—who I assumed were close friends, judging by the obvious familiarity between them—were arguing about.

"Would you please apologize and tell the gentleman waiting that we will be a moment longer?" I heard Abe's voice sound from just behind me, presumably talking to the nurse, and I distantly noted that he must have followed me when I had suddenly veered off from where we were meant to be headed. I assumed the nurse had nodded in agreement and left when Abe suddenly appeared beside me, feeling his questioning gaze settle on my face.

"That's him," I whispered to him quietly, nodding my head slightly in their direction.

"Would I be safe to assume you mean the smaller of the two?" he asked lightly, following my gaze to the two arguing friends standing a couple of feet from us.

I snorted quietly, shooting him a look before returning my gaze to the duo. "Yes, Abe. I mean the smaller of the two."

"Look, I know you don't think I can do this, but—" Steve started to respond to whatever had just been said, but his friend shook his head and cut him off before he could finish, his face showing that he already knew what Steve was going to say.

"This isn't a back alley, Steve! This is _war!_ "

"I know it's a war—"

His friend sighed and shook his head in exasperation, yet again stopping Steve from finishing his sentence. "Why are you so keen to fight? There's so many jobs—"

I had to bite my lip to hold back a chuckle as Steve, in turn, cut his friend off before he could finish. "What do you want me to do? Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?"

"Yes! Why not?"

"I'm not going to sit in a factory, Bucky." When his friend—'Bucky'—opened his mouth to argue again, Steve shook his head and continued before his friend had a chance to say a word. " _Bucky!_ Come on! There are men laying down their _lives._ I got no right to do any less than them. _That's_ what you don't understand. This isn't about me."

A slow smile tugged at my lips at the utter passion and determination in which he spoke, a rare admiration stirring deep within me as I stared at this man who clearly had so much holding him back, and yet was stubbornly fighting to do what was right despite it all. How was it that one small man held more honor in him than the hundreds of other soldiers I had met?

I briefly glanced to see Abe's reaction to Steve's words, feeling a strangely proud grin pull at my lips when I saw the slightly awed smile on his face and the impressed look in his eyes. In that moment, I knew without asking him that he had come to the same conclusion that I had: Steve could quite possibly be the one we've been looking for all along.

"Right. Because you've got nothing to prove?"

I turned my head back to face the two men as 'Bucky' started walking backwards—towards two girls who had called out something about going dancing—but not before he shook his head affectionately at Steve. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Steve called out after him with a small smile.

'Bucky' turned back around and walked towards him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. "You're a punk," he murmured fondly.

"Jerk," Steve sighed, patting his friend on the back before they let go of each other. "Be careful."

"Don't win the war until I get there!" Steve called after his friend after a pause, causing him to turn back and give Steve a mock salute before he disappeared out of sight, arms wrapped around the two girls who had been waiting. Steve sighed, staring after them for a moment, before turning and heading further into the enlistment building, presumably towards where the sign up desk and medical examinations were.

"So?" I turned to Abe after Steve disappeared around a corner, raising an eyebrow with a knowing smile on my face. Abe took one look at my expression and shook his head with a chuckle, gently taking a hold of my arm and guiding me down the hall to where the medical examination rooms were.

"I'll get the nurse to keep him in a medical room whilst we question the other gentleman waiting."

I nodded my head at Abe's reply, wishing we could go straight to Steve, but knowing that we had kept the other gentleman waiting long enough. We stopped by the registration desk on our way, giving the woman there Steve's name and asking her to hold him in a private medical room until we could talk to him. She immediately nodded her head at us, calling a nurse over and asking her to inform the doctor currently with him. We nodded in thanks before making our way to the private room where one 'Tyler Paxton' was currently waiting for us to question him.

The guy who respectfully stood when we entered the room was tall, gaunt and without an inch of muscle on him. His dark hair was slicked down and his clothes were neatly pressed, although slightly baggy on his frame. He didn't appear to be skinny in the sickly way that Steve was. It was more as if he was suited to office work and had never done a day of physical labor in his life. Despite that, he held a sweet disposition about him, and his large eyes held a sharp intelligence to them as he looked us both over before abruptly straightening and glancing at the wall behind us, as if worried he had been disrespectful in his brief examination of us.

"Tyler Paxton?" I asked, flipping open the folder containing his enlistment form and the results of his medical examination. I smiled slightly as he kept his eyes respectfully fixated on the wall behind us, responding with a polite "Yes, ma'am."

The next few minutes passed quickly as Abe and I questioned him, testing to see whether he would be suitable for the project. He answered all the questions without much difficulty and, eventually, Abe and I finished the assessment and shared a look. We nodded slightly to each other and stamped our approval of him on his enlistment form, officially accepting him into Project Rebirth.

We exited the room shortly after, following the armed military officer who was waiting outside to show us to the room Steve was currently occupying. Abe turned to me as we walked down the hallway. "What did you truly think of Mr. Paxton?" he asked curiously.

"It seems as though he'd be better suited in intelligence than as a super-soldier in the midst of battle, but who knows? He may surprise us. I definitely think he has potential," I stated, my tone thoughtful as I shrugged slightly and muttered quietly to myself under my breath, "But not as much potential as Steve."

Abe, who had been nodding along in agreement to what I had been saying, glanced at me in surprise before chuckling, causing me to mentally curse in embarrassment as I realized he had somehow overheard the last part of my sentence. I was just about to open my mouth to stutter some form of defense when we pulled to a stop outside of some closed privacy curtains—which I assumed Steve was behind—and the doctor waiting outside handed Abe the folder he was holding before leaving with a nod. I caught a glimpse of Steve's name on the front of the folder as the armed military officer held open the privacy curtain for us. I thanked him quietly as I slowly followed Abe into the room.

My eyes immediately landed on Steve, who was sitting rigidly on the seat against the far side of the wall. His face paled as he stared nervously at the armed military officer behind us, who merely nodded his head before stepping out, drawing the curtains closed behind him. Abe cleared his throat lightly as he opened the folder he held in his hands and scanned the information it held within, causing Steve's attention to snap to the two of us for the first time. I couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on my face as I caught the way he relaxed slightly in relief when he noticed me standing next to Abe. I found it sweet that he obviously found something about my presence reassuring.

"So, you want to go overseas? Kill some Nazis?" Abe questioned, his voice and face giving nothing away as he continued to examine Steve's medical form. I knew him well after working with him for so long, however, so I noticed the spark of interest and faint surprise in his eyes as they fixated on one particular part of the paper. I shifted slightly, having to restrain myself from leaning over his shoulder in curiosity to see what had caught his attention.

"Excuse me?" Steve asked, his eyes unsure as they left my form and focused on Abe, who closed the folder he was holding and looked up at the question. I smiled sheepishly as Abe turned and handed me the folder with a wink, obviously knowing that my curiosity was killing me by now, before he made his way over to where Steve was still sitting and offered his hand in greeting.

"Dr. Abraham Erskine," Abe introduced as Steve quickly stood up and shook his hand respectfully. Abe nodded in my direction as I walked over to the examination table and placed Steve's folder on it. "I would introduce you to my companion, Agent Fahlett, but I hear you two have already met."

"Yes, we ran into each other earlier." Steve nodded with a small chuckle, before politely—although needlessly—introducing himself to Abe. "Steve Rogers."

"And when he says we 'ran into each other', he means he kindly saved me from the rather distinct possibility of getting trampled," I commented, pausing in opening his folder to send him another grateful smile. Abe chuckled and shook his head in fond exasperation. The doctor cocked a brow at me in question, silently asking whether he even wanted to know the full story. I just sent him an innocent smile and shrugged my shoulders slightly before turning back to Steve with a wink. "I told you I had a feeling we would meet again."

Steve blushed slightly and nodded with a small smile, conceding that I had been right, before his attention was drawn back to Abe as he spoke to me. "Just a feeling, Fräulein?"

I shot the doctor a half-hearted glare as he chuckled, silently daring him to continue and tell Steve that I had basically planned this second meeting all along. His eyes sparkled behind his glasses as he shook his head at me before clearing his throat and turning his attention back to Steve, who was looking between the two of us in confusion. "Where was I? Oh, yes—we represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve."

I shook my head with a small smile, finally turning my attention back to the half-open folder in my hands. I flipped the front open the rest of the way before I quickly scanned over the information listed on the page before me. _Name, Age, Date of birth, Address, Height, Weight..._

I hummed quietly to myself as I read over his enlistment form as I had done a hundred others, noting to myself that I had been near enough correct in my rough guess of his height and weight. But then, my eyes landed on his medical examination results and my breath caught in my throat. I had figured that he probably had a few ailments, but this... Shock and sadness twisted deep within me as I lightly trailed my fingers down the long list:

 _Asthma  
_ _Scarlet Fever  
_ _Rheumatic Fever  
_ _Sinusitus  
_ _Chronic or frequent colds  
_ _High blood pressure  
_ _Palpitation or pounding in heart  
_ _Easy fatiguability  
_ _Color blind  
_ _Heart trouble  
_ _Nervous trouble of any sort  
_ _Has had household contact with tuberculosis patient  
_ _Parent/sibling with diabetes, cancer, stroke or heart disease_

"Where are you from?" Steve's voice broke me out of my thoughts as Abe walked over to me, sending me a sad smile as he noticed what I had been looking at. I nodded back to Abe before straightening slightly as Steve's question registered in my head, my eyes flying over to his small form standing across the room. I scrutinized him for the meaning behind the question, not believing that he meant that in the way it sounded, but needing to be sure.

"Queens. 73rd Street and Utopia Parkway. Before that, Germany," Abe replied casually, not even flinching at the question as he glanced down to reread something on Steve's enlistment form in front of me.

"Is that a problem?" I asked lowly, over-protectiveness for my dear friend instinctively kicking in and making my eyes flash dangerously, even as I told myself that Steve didn't seem like the type to judge someone on such trivial things.

"No, not at all! I didn't mean that in the way that it probably sounded..." Steve quickly rushed to reassure, his eyes wide as he glanced between the two of us, obviously scared that we had taken offense. I felt my body relax slightly as I saw the true honesty on his face and sent him an easy smile, silently apologizing for being so defensive a moment ago.

"It is fine... But, where are _you_ from, Mr. Rogers?" Abe waved his apology off dismissively as he glanced back down at the folder before me, flicking through the multiple different enlistment forms as he continued. "Hm? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus?"

I had to hide my smile behind a stoic mask at Steve's determination as I continued Abe's line of thinking. "Five exams in five different cities..."

"That might not be the right file—" Steve instantly tried to defend himself, a hint of panic creeping into his voice as his eyes flickered between Abe and I, obviously wondering whether he was in serious trouble or not.

"No, it's not the exams we're interested in. It's the five tries." Abe shook his head as he slipped the multiple forms back in their place and flipped the folder shut. "But, you didn't answer my question—do you want to kill Nazis?"

There was a pause as Steve glanced away from our scrutinizing stares in thought, before returning his unsure gaze to us. "Is this a test?"

"Yes," I answered bluntly with a nod, ensuring my face didn't give anything away as I continued to gaze expectantly at him, waiting in curiosity for his answer to Abe's question. I watched as Steve shook his head to himself slightly, his eyes distant for a moment and his eyebrows furrowed in thought, before he suddenly straightened and looked at us both with a set jaw and determination in his gaze.

"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from," Steve replied, the honesty and passion in his voice as he spoke momentarily knocking the breath out of my lungs. I stood there, stunned, for a moment. My eyes fixated on the man before me that I was suddenly seeing in a whole new light. I felt the same deep admiration and respect as before stir within me in that moment, yet again wondering how it was possible for this one small man to hold more honor and compassion in him than a hundred of the soldiers I had met.

"Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy," Abe commented, a small smile on his face as he shot me a look and nodded his head slightly.

I knew that we would both be keeping a very close eye on him throughout the one-week training program for the potential candidates of Project Rebirth. Not that it mattered how he did physically; Abe had always said that he was looking for what was on the inside rather than what someone could do on the outside, something that I had always agreed wholeheartedly with. However, the training program would show us more of Steve's true character in a variety of situations: it would tell us how he thought, how he coped with challenges, how he acted around others, how he responded to danger, how he worked through problems. It would tell us who he really was and if he was truly as unwavering in his determination and beliefs as he seemed now.

I shook myself from my thoughts and snorted lightly in amusement. "I couldn't have put it better myself, Abe. That was weirdly poetic of you," I quipped.

"We can offer you a chance. _Only_ a chance," Abe told Steve after rolling his eyes at me with a fond smile, turning and pulling back the privacy curtain surrounding the room as he spoke and gesturing for us to follow him.

"I'll take it," Steve immediately responded, absolutely no hesitation in his voice as he quickly strode out after Abe. I followed close behind.

"Good. So, where is the little guy from—actually?" Abe questioned with a smile and a raised eyebrow as he leaned over the desk to grab a particular stamp.

"Brooklyn," Steve responded with a sheepish smile on his face. I chuckled and shook my head, watching Abe stamp the corner of Steve's enlistment form.

"Until we meet again, Mr. Rogers." I frowned in confusion when Abe bid his farewell to Steve, only to roll my eyes seconds later when he handed the folder over to me with a wink and left us both with one more nod goodbye in Steve's general direction. I shook my head at his retreating figure before I sighed and turned around to face Steve with a small shrug.

I didn't waste another moment as I handed the approved file over to him, watching as he slowly opened it and looked down at the '1A' stamped in the corner of his enlistment form with a stunned look on his face, the realization that he had finally made it into the army just starting to dawn on him. I smiled at him when he glanced up at me, nodding my head in reassurance when I saw the question in his eyes, as if he was silently asking me whether this was actually happening or not.

"Congratulations, _soldier,_ " I told him with a wink, a smile lighting up my face as he blushed, stammering slightly before he cleared his throat and seemed to regain a semblance of composure.

"Thank you, Agent Fahlett. For everything. You have no idea how much this means to me," Steve breathed, his eyes shining with open gratitude as he nodded his head to me in thanks.

"Anna. Please, just call me Anna," I corrected him softly. "And there is no need to thank me, Steve. _Y_ _ou_ earned your place in the program, no one else. Don't mention that I said anything, but I know you also greatly impressed Dr. Erskine today, something which is not easy to do by any means. You should be proud of yourself, truly."

"I impressed him?" Steve asked slowly, his brow furrowing and his mouth opening slightly in shock.

"Yes, you did." I nodded my head at him, hesitating briefly before I decided to carry on. "I'm not going to lie to you, Steve, the next few weeks are going to be damn hard. But keep a hold of that determination I saw in you when you were being questioned and I don't doubt for a second that you can do this."

Steve stared at me for a long moment, an unidentifiable emotion shining in his eyes as he made no move to respond, looking as if he was lost deep in thought. I shifted after a few minutes had passed, starting to feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze and wondering if I had said something wrong. "What?"

Steve jerked slightly at the soft question, abruptly snapping out of his thoughts at the sound of my voice. He instantly lowered his gaze to the floor in obvious embarrassment with a light blush on his cheeks. "I... I'm sorry. It's just... No one's ever said that to me before," he stammered quietly.

"Said what?" I cocked my head to the side, curiously eyeing him as he continued to stare intently at the floor by his feet, seeming to grow more embarrassed by the second.

"That I can do something." The words were barely above a whisper as they escaped his mouth and his gaze remained firmly on the floor as he spoke, almost as if he didn't want to see my reaction to the quiet admission.

My heart broke slightly for him the moment the words reached my ears, feeling a strange sense of camaraderie form towards him as I realized that he had probably faced the same problems I had all my life—everyone telling you no, that you can't do something, that you're not good enough. The only difference was, I was told no because of my gender, and he was told no because of his health.

"Well, then I'll make sure to say it more often, _soldier,_ " I teased lightly, although the serious undertone to my voice could be clearly heard. I sent him a soft smile when he raised his eyes to look at me in shock, reluctantly taking a step back as my eyes glanced at the clock on the wall and I saw how much time had passed. Abe would probably be waiting for me outside by now. The car that was arranged to pick the two of us up and take us back to camp was scheduled to arrive... five minutes ago. Crap. "Unfortunately, I really must be going now. It was a pleasure to meet you though, Steve. Truly."

I shot him one last smile before I turned and started to quickly walk down the empty hallway, mentally cursing at myself and hoping the driver wouldn't be too annoyed that I was running a few minutes late.

"Thank you... Anna." Steve's quiet, sincere tone made me pause mid-stride, briefly turning to nod my head at him and flash him another smile, happy that he had listened to me this time and called me by my given name, rather than my title.

"No problem. I'll see you soon, soldier," I called out over my shoulder as I turned and continued down the hallway, my strides lengthening as I forced myself to hurry.

"Bye!" Steve called back to me in farewell just as I reached the exit door. I glanced back and waved to him in a final goodbye before I slipped through the side door to the busy Expo outside. I spotted Abe casually leaning against the wall almost instantly and quickly shot him an apologetic smile as he made his way over and held out his arm for me. I wasted no time in gently looping my hand around the crook of his proffered arm as we started to weave our way through the throngs of people, headed towards our prearranged pick up point.

"So, how was Mr. Rogers?" Abe asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye with a sly smile on his face once we had broken free of the crowds and our waiting car came into sight.

"Not another word, Abe. Not another word," I ordered, shooting him a half-hearted glare as he chuckled and squeezed my arm gently before letting go and opening the car door for me as we finally reached the vehicle. I winced slightly as I noticed the slightly peeved driver, giving him an apologetic smile for making him wait so long as I quickly slid onto the back seat and shuffled over so Abe could join me.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, I was going to wait a week until I updated again, but that plan clearly failed... Anyway, here's chapter two, guys! Sorry if it's a little slow, but I'm just trying to create the setup for the story so you can start to get a feel of what her relationship is like with the others, etc.**

 **So, I've had so much inspiration for this story recently. I have bits to tweak and more scenes to write, but the bulk of this story is already almost written. I literally don't know what's happened to me—I never write this fast, but hey, I'm not going to complain! I'm clearly fast becoming a Marvel fan girl, haha.**

 **Random Trivia**

 **Tyler Paxton actually existed in the Marvel universe. He was a volunteer in the super-soldier programme alongside Steve and went on to work as a code-breaker for Military Intelligence after Erskine died and the programme was shut down. He allegedly met Erskine's daughter, Esme, at the Professor's funeral and they went on to marry and have a son, called Jacob.**

 **Reviews**

 **I just want to say a huge thank you to those who reviewed and to all of those who followed and favourited this story! It really does mean a lot to me—especially as I am so new to this fandom so writing a Steve fic is a little bit daunting. *hides***

 _ **Guest: Reading your review made me smile, so thank you! I'm happy that you're excited for this story and I hope I can do it justice! I'm glad you like Anna, as well. She's kind of just writing herself at the moment, which makes it so much easier for me to knock out chapters.**_

 _ **Gilyflower: Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**_

 _ **Guest: Here you go! Hope you like it! (:**_

 **—**

 **Again, let me know how I'm doing, guys! I'd love to hear your feedback and any thoughts you may have so far!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Again, a huge thank you to my Beta—** ** _NeahZoldyck13—_ for being an amazing human being and putting up with me!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Abe and I had quickly parted ways after returning to camp from the Expo—Abe having wasted no time in disappearing back into his lab, whilst I was reluctantly headed off to meet with Colonel Phillips after a young soldier had just informed me he was 'requesting' my presence. I soon paused on my steady trek across camp, however, a familiar dark-haired figure catching my eye just as I was passing the barracks.

"Peggy!" I cried out the moment I saw her, heady relief and joy rushing through me. I immediately took off towards her and practically tackled her in a tight hug the second she was within arms reach.

I heard Peggy let out a surprised, but joyful, laugh as she instantly wound her own arms around me to return the hug, squeezing tightly. "I take it you missed me?" she asked in a low, amused voice.

"You don't even know the half of it. I love Howard, but when you're the only female left on base, there are times when I want to shoot him." I chuckled, half-teasing and half-deadly serious as I continued. "We need to talk to Phillips about never separating us for missions again."

"Ever?" Peggy snorted in amusement, shaking her head and pulling back with a grin so that she could see my face.

My eyes immediately started to examine her closely now that I had calmed down enough from the initial excitement of seeing her again, noticing her slightly messy hair and the faint smudge of dirt on her forehead, obviously not having had time to clean herself up yet. But, apart from her slightly ruffled appearance and the tiredness in her eyes, she appeared to be completely unharmed. I let out a silent breath of relief at the sight, the worry that had been eating at me ever since she had left for her mission a week ago slowly easing inside of me.

"Ever," I confirmed as I finally responded to her statement, nodding my head in mock seriousness. "We've only been separated twice for missions in the last three years, and both times, I've hated it."

"So have I, Gracie. So have I." Peggy nodded with a sad smile, using the silly little nickname that she had picked up for me after an undercover operation we had been on together two and a half years ago. I snorted quietly with a soft smile at the name, fond memories flashing through my head as I remembered how that particular mission had ended: I had blown up part of a castle and an entire chunk of wall as a distraction whilst we had run for our lives, both from the people trying to kill us and from the explosion I set off that had almost incinerated us. Peggy had hit me— _hard—_ when we had finally reached the rescue team waiting for us a few miles out, and refused to let me take charge of a mission again for an entire year after that little stunt.

"I suppose we should get going, _Evie._ " I emphasized the nickname that I had given her from the same mission, a mischievous grin lighting up my face as she rolled her eyes with a fond smile in response. I linked my arm with hers as we turned and started walking across the training grounds, not needing to ask to know she was headed to the same place as me to debrief anyway. "Phillips will flay us alive if we keep him waiting too long."

"So, tell me about what happened whilst I was away..." she prodded with a light grin as we continued to walk. I smiled in return as I nodded and started to recount to her everything that she had missed in the past week.

XxXxXx

"Colonel Phillips." Peggy and I stopped in the doorway and straightened as we gave him a salute in perfect sync with each other. Phillips turned around from where he had been leaning over a large table with a map in front of him, examining the markers on it that showed where the current known HYDRA bases were around Europe.

"Agent Fahlett." Phillips nodded to me with the hint of a smile, which was about as much affection from the man as one could probably ever hope to achieve. He then turned his gaze to Peggy beside me, the minuscule trace of a smile still on his face as he nodded at her too. "Agent Carter, glad to see you could make it."

"Sir, I filled out the mission debrief on the return flight to camp if yo—" Peggy started, both of us slightly unsure of why we had been summoned for a sudden meeting.

Phillips cut her off with a wave of his hand. "We'll sort that out later, Agent Carter. That's not why I called you two in. I wanted to speak to you about the new candidates."

"For Project Rebirth?" I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly as an image of Steve unconsciously flashed through my mind.

"Yes." Phillips nodded, causing me to hide a fond smirk at his usual bluntness. "I want you two to supervise the training of the new recruits, alongside another drill sergeant."

Peggy and I shared a slightly surprised glance with each other—more used to being sent on espionage missions and general undercover work for the past few years—before we turned back to Colonel Phillips with affirmative nods. "It would be our pleasure, sir. When do the candidates arrive?"

"Later tonight. Training starts first thing in the morning," Phillips stated, striding around the table to pick up two folders before approaching and passing them to us. I briefly opened the folder and quickly flicked through the documents it contained, finding all the known information about each of the potential candidates inside. I paused briefly on the page detailing Steve's list of information, before I shook myself and snapped the folder closed, looking back up with a short nod to Phillips.

"Is that all, Colonel?" Peggy respectfully asked beside me, shutting her own folder that she had been flicking through to glance up at Phillips when he made no move to say anything else.

"Yes, I'll see you both in the morning," Phillips said, waving his hand dismissively at us both in silent permission for us to leave. We both nodded and I threw another salute to him with a mischievous smirk—causing him to roll his eyes as his lips twitched slightly—before we turned and made our way to the door.

"Oh, and Agent Fahlett, Agent Carter? Don't go easy on them tomorrow," he called out after us, a tinge of amusement hidden in his deep voice.

I briefly paused in the doorway, looking back over my shoulder to him with another smirk. "We wouldn't dream of it, sir."

XxXxXx

 _ **June 15th, 1943**_

"Recruits, attention!" Peggy called out in a strict voice. Both of us drew to a stop in front of the line-up as the men all abruptly straightened and directed their eyes forward in respect. I scanned my eyes over the group of new recruits, my gaze unconsciously going to Steve's small form amongst the other men. He was easy to spot in the line, standing at least a head shorter than all the other candidates. I felt my mood brighten slightly as I sent him a small nod in greeting, before I returned my attention to the group in general as Peggy started speaking again beside me.

"Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter," Peggy gestured to me as she continued, "—and this is Agent Fahlett. We supervise all operations for this division."

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" one of the men spoke up, his tone cocky as he raised an eyebrow and chuckled arrogantly. I tensed beside Peggy, but I forced myself to keep quiet, knowing that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and that I needed to let her sort this out without interfering if she was to earn any respect amongst the new recruits. "Thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army."

"What's your name, soldier?" Peggy snapped, her eyes hardening as they landed on the arrogant recruit who had just made the mistake of speaking up.

"Gilmore Hodge, Your Majesty," he mocked, his confident smirk never faltering as he tipped his head back slightly and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Step forward, Hodge," Peggy ordered, her face going dangerously blank as she stared unflinchingly at him in challenge. I smirked, rocking back on my heels and waiting for the entertainment to start as I watched Hodge take a step towards her. "Put your right foot forward."

"Mm, we gonna wrassle? 'Cos I got a few moves I _know_ you'll like." He winked suggestively once he'd finished speaking, and I shook my head slightly in amusement, knowing he was going to regret saying that in three... two...

Peggy's fist flew through the air and connected with his nose in a perfect right hook, a shocked grunt leaving Hodge's lips as he fell to the ground from the sheer force of the blow. I patted Peggy's shoulder in a silent 'well done' as she stepped back beside me, before I walked over and stared down at the man lying face-down in the dirt.

"Get up, soldier," I barked, glaring at him as he rolled over onto his back and stared up at me with a pained expression. He obligingly staggered to his feet, his face slowly shifting into its previous cocky look as he, unattractively, wiped the blood from under his nose whilst his eyes briefly trailed over my body.

"Why hello, sweet cheeks. Come to check out those moves I was talking about? Don't worry, sugar, the offer of a dance _definitely_ stands for you too."

I sent him a sickeningly sweet smile as my hand twitched slightly and I internally grimaced. This man just didn't know when to quit. "That depends on what kind of dance you're talking about. If it's one where my knee ends up slamming into your groin, then yeah, I'll probably enjoy it."

He let out a small chuckle and winked suggestively at me as he replied. "Aw, don't be like that, doll. If you replace your knee in that sentence with another part of the female anatomy, I can promise it will be more enjoyable."

Before he could even blink, my right arm shot forward in a closed-fingered, open-handed thrust, the heel of my hand slamming straight into the middle of his crotch with brutal force. He let out a pained grunt as he immediately folded in on himself, falling back to the ground and curling into a ball on his side as I gazed down at him in mock wonder. "You're right. That _was_ more enjoyable."

I had to hide my smile as I saw Steve grin out of the corner of my eye, forcing my face to remain menacing as I leaned down to grab the front of Hodge's shirt. I yanked his upper body up off the ground slightly, just high enough for me to bend down and whisper lowly into his ear. "If you _ever_ speak to Agent Carter like that again, then _I_ can promise _you_ that I won't be treating you anywhere near as nice as I am now. If you even so much as look at her with anything but the deep respect that she deserves, then I will _personally_ make sure you are never able to procreate—that way, I'll be able to rest easy knowing that your own personal level of stupid dies with you."

"Agent Carter! Agent Fahlett!" Chester Phillips' voice barked from behind us as he got out of his truck, causing me to quickly release my grip on Hodge and turn, hiding a satisfied smile when the arrogant idiot let out a pained whine from behind me as he hit the ground again. I ignored the whimpering fool and raised my hand in a perfect salute to the Colonel as I straightened.

"Colonel Phillips," Peggy responded respectfully as she mirrored my actions and raised her hand in a salute beside me. I shot a smile towards Abe as I saw him climbing out of the truck behind the Colonel before quickly turning my attention back to Phillips as he strode towards us.

"I can see that you two are breaking in the candidates. That's good." Phillips smirked in amusement, pulling to a stop beside us as he looked down at Hodge still lying pathetically in the dirt. "Get your ass up out of that dirt and stand in that line at attention until somebody comes and tells you what to do."

Hodge scrambled to do what Phillips commanded, straightening himself back in line and not making eye contact. Instead, he looked straight ahead and nodded his head respectfully, shouting out a "Yes, sir!"

"Sexist pig," I muttered under my breath, snorting quietly at Hodge's sudden change in attitude now that a male officer had joined us. Phillips shot me an amused look as he overheard my comment, shaking his head slightly as he hid a smile and turned back to the candidates lined up. He instantly fixed his stern face firmly back in place, starting to pace up and down the line as he spoke.

"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons, but they are _won_ by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best... men." He paused slightly in his speech as his eyes landed on Steve's small form in the line of recruits, shooting a confused look towards Abe—who had walked up to stand on my right side—and I. Abe hid his smirk and looked away, whilst I rocked back on my heels and smiled innocently at Phillips. The Colonel rolled his eyes at the two of us before he turned back to the recruits and continued his little inspirational speech.

"And because they are gonna get better. _M_ _uch_ better." He shot another look at Steve here, who continued to look straight ahead with his body standing rigidly at attention. "The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history, but every army starts with one man. At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super soldiers... And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell."

Phillips stepped back at the end of his little speech, shooting one last incredulous look at Steve before nodding his head towards Peggy and I to take over and begin training. We both stepped forward, taking the spot that Phillips had just been standing in as we trailed our eyes over the line in front of us.

"I can promise you that by the end of training, you're going to hate Agent Carter and I. This week is going to be one of the most brutal weeks of your life, because not only are we testing your physical strength, but your emotional and psychological strength as well. Remember that in a few days time when you're curled into a ball in the dirt, crying because you're tired and you want to give up. If you want to get through this training program successfully, we want you to damn well pick your ass back up and keep moving. Do you understand, soldiers?" I yelled, the authority and power in my voice ringing clear as I stared at each recruit individually whilst I spoke, none of whom would look me in the eye as they continued to stand at attention with their eyes ahead in respect.

"Yes, ma'am!" they chorused back to me in sync, even as I noticed one or two twitching nervously at my words. I sighed. They would never make it through this week if they were already acting like that.

"Recruits! Get into formation and start with ten laps around the track!" Peggy ordered beside me as she pulled out her clipboard and whistle, her tone giving no room for argument as the recruits all rushed to figure out where they should stand in the formation, bumping into each other and muttering quietly amongst themselves. I sighed again as I watched them, already knowing this was going to be a long week.

XxXxXx

I called out a goodnight to Howard over my shoulder as I exited his lab and slowly stepped outside, deeply inhaling the cold evening air through my nose. My eyes fluttered closed for a moment as I allowed my body to fully relax for the first time today, revelling in the peace and quiet for a long pause before I shook myself and started to make my way back to the room I shared with Peggy in the barracks. Training had been almost painfully long today, with all the recruits struggling to adjust to the sudden brutal training regime we had put them through. Although none had struggled more than Steve.

I sighed slightly as I thought of the small blonde. Watching him struggle determinedly through the exercises today had been awe-inspiring, and yet heart-breaking at the same time. I had had to restrain myself from calling for breaks every five minutes to try and allow him to catch his breath, knowing that, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't openly show unfair special treatment to him over the other recruits whilst in public—especially if Abe and I wanted to be able to convince Colonel Phillips he was the right candidate. It had been for that reason that I had been so relieved when training was over for the day, immediately having made my way over to Howard's lab, knowing that his sense of humor and endless flirting always had a weird way of winding me down after a long day.

A quiet rustling of paper abruptly pulled me out of my thoughts and I snapped my head in the direction it had come from, my body automatically tensing in preparation for a fight as I examined my surroundings. I silently sighed in relief and my muscles instantly relaxed again when my eyes landed on the small form of Steve, sitting at the bottom of some concrete steps with a book propped in his hands. His eyes intently scanned the pages in front of him, obviously too lost in what he was reading to notice my presence. I cocked my head to the side with a small smile as I took a few more steps towards him.

"How's the asthma holding up?" I asked quietly, causing him to jump and drop his book onto the floor in surprise as his head snapped up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's fine, Ann— I mean, Agent Fahlett. I wasn't paying attention, that was all," Steve stuttered, quickly standing upright and looking straight ahead at attention.

"At ease, soldier," I chuckled, shaking my head lightly in amusement. "And what have I told you? Call me Anna, please, at least when we're in private."

He slowly relaxed his body and looked over at me with an unsure nod in agreement, obviously not convinced that it wasn't disrespectful for him not to call me by my title now that I was his supposed 'superior' in the army. I had always hated that term though; I didn't believe it was right for anyone to be held above others because of a simple title. We were all humans. We all fought for the same cause, we all bled in the same battles, and we all died as brothers and sisters in this war. Damn the titles and ranks. We were all _equals._

"And don't think I've forgotten that you didn't answer my first question, Steve. How's your asthma holding up?"

"It's fine," he automatically rushed to reassure, nodding his head hurriedly. I didn't believe him for a second: I caught the way his jaw muscle ticked slightly and the way his eyes briefly flickered to the floor, as if wanting to avoid eye contact, before he forced his gaze back to mine. I raised an eyebrow and shot him a disbelieving look, silently letting him know that I wasn't buying his bullshit. He sighed quietly. "It's been better, but it's also been worse. It's nothing I can't handle."

I hesitantly nodded my head, believing he was telling the truth, but also knowing that he was making it sound better than it actually was. "You'll tell me if you feel an attack coming on during training? Abe and I would be devastated if we lost our favorite soldier."

"Y...Your favorite?" he stuttered, staring at me with wide eyes and not moving to say anything else, as if he thought he had heard wrong and was waiting for me to correct him. I nodded with a small smile and winked, before shooting him a pointed look, not about to let him try to get away with avoiding one of my questions again. Steve sighed as he realized he wasn't going to get any more out of me on the subject and shifted his weight slightly. "Yes, I'll... I'll let you know."

"Thank you." I breathed a silent sigh of relief, deciding to drop the subject now that he had reassured my worries slightly. I slowly walked over and bent to retrieve his book off of the floor where he had accidentally dropped it earlier, brushing off the slight bit of dirt that dusted the cover. A small smile came to my face as I saw the title of the book—' _The Machinery of War'_ —and I let out a soft chuckle as I handed it back over to him. "Brains before brawn, huh?"

"It sounds silly, I know—" Steve started to say, his face embarrassed as he looked down at the book he was now holding in his hands.

I shook my head and cut him off before he could finish. "No, no. I think it's much more impressive, actually. Wisdom is often a far greater strength than brute force. Something that, unfortunately, too little people acknowledge these days."

"You really believe that?" he questioned, his eyes scrutinizing my face as his head cocked to the side slightly. I nodded with a small smile in response before reluctantly sighing as I noticed how dark it was starting to become.

"You should get some sleep, Steve. You're going to need it. Today was just the basics, tomorrow is when the real training begins. The next few days are going to be pretty brutal, I'm afraid." I smiled sympathetically at him, my eyes softening as he nodded his head in response to my words with a small wince.

"Goodnight, Agen—" I shot him a look, and he hurried to correct himself, " _Anna_. Goodnight, Anna."

"Goodnight, Steve. I'll see you tomorrow, soldier." I sent him a wink and grinned as he blushed slightly, before I turned to leave with a final wave of farewell. I paused when I was a few steps away though, turning back around—and hoping the falling darkness concealed my light blush as I noticed he still hadn't moved and had been watching me walk away—to call out, "Oh, and Steve?"

When our eyes locked, I gave him a soft smile, unconsciously tucking a stray strand of black hair behind my ear as my light gray eyes sparkled in the fading light. "You can do this."

I repeated the words that I had said to him the night of the Expo—the words that I had promised myself I would tell him often after he had admitted no one had ever said them to him before—and watched, with a warm feeling sparking in my chest, as his beautiful blue eyes softened with emotion and he nodded his head to me in silent gratitude, obviously not trusting himself to speak as he swallowed thickly. I gave him one final smile before I turned and disappeared into the night, heading back to my room where I knew Peggy would be waiting.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay, I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that no one would want to date Steve pre-serum. He's kind of adorable before the whole super-soldier thing, don't you think? Or is that just me? ...Just me? Yeah, okay. *hides***

 **Reviews**

 **Thank you again to all of those who favourited and followed! And a special thank you to each of you who reviewed!**

 _ **Jo: Thank you so much! *claps happily* I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and I appreciate the comment! I'm trying to add extra bits and pieces into the story to build up their relationship more—something you'll hopefully see a lot more as the story progresses!**_

 _ **Guest: Here you go! Hope you enjoy (:**_

 _ **—**_

 **Let me know how I'm doing, guys! Reviews are love ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Again, thank you to my amazing Beta—** ** _NeahZoldyck13—_ for being such a huge help!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 ** _June 16th, 1943_**

"I swear to God I'm going to strangle that son of a bitch," I growled under my breath to Peggy, who was standing beside me as we watched the recruits scramble to climb over the large rope wall. I was barely paying attention to the other recruits, however, as my menacing gaze was firmly locked onto Hodge as he briefly paused at the top of the apparatus to look down and laugh at Steve, who had lost his grip half-way up and was now hanging upside down with his foot tangled in the rope as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

"Phillips wouldn't be impressed if you killed his favorite recruit," Peggy chuckled, shooting me an amused look and shaking her head slightly. She returned her gaze to the candidates, quickly jotting down notes on her clipboard about each recruit's performance in the activity.

"I'm sure he'd let it slide just this once," I muttered darkly, sighing quietly in relief when I saw Steve somehow manage to right himself on the rope and slowly continue to heave himself up the rest of the apparatus. I sent another glare in Hodge's direction as his feet landed loudly on the ground on the other side of the rope wall, smiling smugly at his fellow recruits as he sauntered off to the side to wait for the others to finish the exercise before they all had to do it again.

I took a small sip of my coffee whilst Peggy continued to take notes, the rest of the recruits slowly finishing one by one and lining up beside Hodge, until it was only Steve left on the rope wall. He dropped to the ground seconds later, signaling the end of the exercise as Peggy jotted down the final time next to his name. The drill sergeant was just about to open his mouth to no doubt order the recruits to complete the exercise one last time before they were finished for today, but I cut him off before he had a chance to speak, my eyes landing on Steve's bent over form as he unsuccessfully tried to regain his breath.

"Recruits! Well done, you've successfully made it through day two of training! Go get some rest, and we'll see if you can make it through another day tomorrow! You are dismissed!" I yelled, dismissing them five minutes earlier than I was meant to—something that, fortunately, only the drill sergeant and Peggy knew. I waited until all the recruits and the drill sergeant—who paused and shot me a questioning look before he left, sighing when I merely shrugged in response—had filtered off of the training grounds, before I handed my clipboard over to Peggy and started to make my way over to Steve. He was now the only recruit remaining on the training field, clearly not having heard what I said earlier. He stayed hunched over, his eyes scrunched shut as he struggled to breathe.

I ignored the knowing smirk Peggy shot me as I left her side, faintly hearing her let out a low chuckle before she turned and left as I reached Steve. I felt my stomach clench slightly and I frowned in worry when I heard him wheezing loudly as he panted in short bursts, still bent over and clearly not able to get enough air into his lungs. My mind whirled as I thought of the little I knew about asthma, quickly placing my coffee on the ground so I could gently grab a hold of his arm and slowly guide him to sit down against one of the wooden poles holding up the rope wall. My stomach clenched tightly again in concern when he didn't acknowledge, or even flinch at, my sudden presence.

"You need to sit up straight, Steve. Can you do that for me?" I softly asked him, knowing that the way he was bent over right now was only going to constrict his breathing even more. I made sure to keep my voice low and soothing despite the worry that was twisting deep in my gut, ensuring I kept up a calm front as I knew the last thing he needed right now was me panicking over him. He nodded slightly, forcing himself to sit upright so he wasn't hunched over anymore. His eyes closed tightly as he panted shallowly, his face extremely pale and starting to shine slightly with sweat.

"Focus on me, Steve. Just focus on me," I murmured in a low voice, hooking my thumb and forefinger underneath his chin and gently tilting his head back further so I could see his face properly. I gave him a soft smile when he opened his eyes at my voice, my heart clenching slightly as his panicked gaze met mine whilst he continued to wheeze harshly. I gently cupped the side of his face with one hand, the other moving to stroke his hair back soothingly as I started to take slow, exaggerated breaths, all the while keeping my eyes locked with his. "It's alright. Just copy me, Steve. Breathe in..." I inhaled deeply through my nose before exhaling slowly out of my mouth. "And out."

I repeated this a few times before his breathing ever so slowly began to steady, his chest heaving up and down with every labored breath he took. The sight of my slightly steaming coffee out of the corner of my eye brought an idea to my mind, and I muttered to him to keep doing the breathing exercises before I quickly retrieved the hot beverage and returned to his side. I crouched back down in front of him and held it out in front of me in offering. "Drink some of this. It will help."

I watched him closely as he managed to take a few small sips of coffee over the next few minutes, letting out a silent sigh of relief when I noticed his previously tense body start to relax and his breathing gradually return to normal as the hot caffeinated drink worked its way around his system. I gently rested my hand on his shoulder after a long moment had passed, causing his gaze to return to mine as I quietly spoke. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah..." he breathed, his voice low as he dragged in a slightly shaky breath. He gave me a grateful nod and a small smile. "Thank you, Anna."

I couldn't help but smile at how I didn't have to remind him to call me by my first name this time, and I let out a relieved chuckle at his words, the tension easing inside of me as I finally allowed myself to relax.

"You'll tell me if you can feel an asthma attack coming on, huh?" I repeated the promise he had made me last night, cocking an eyebrow at him in a mixture of exasperation and fond amusement at his stubbornness. He gave me a guilty look and opened his mouth to no doubt start apologizing, but I cut him off with a shake of my head before he could.

"You don't have to apologize, Steve... Just give me a heads up next time so we can prevent this from happening again, yeah? Actually, that's an order, soldier," I lightly teased, winking at him with a low chuckle when he smiled sheepishly at me and nodded his head in reply. I looked at him for a moment, my voice turning serious as I continued. "You know, I used to know an asthmatic a long time ago, and he always swore that warming up slowly before exercise helped prevent his attacks. I don't know how effective it is, but maybe you could give it a try?"

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as I spoke, a grateful look entering his eye once again as he nodded his head slightly. "I will."

I nodded back to him in return, pushing myself back to my feet and brushing myself off slightly. "Are you okay to stand?"

I scrutinized him closely when he nodded his head in reply, double checking that he was telling me the truth, and only offered my hand out to help him up when I was satisfied that his breathing seemed stable enough for him to move. He immediately took my offered hand and, slightly shakily, clambered to his feet in slow movements. I squeezed his hand gently once he was fully standing again before slowly loosening my grip and reluctantly letting go.

"You should get some rest," I murmured quietly, giving him a warm smile as I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "Are you going to be alright getting back to the barracks by yourself? I can walk back with you if—"

"I'll... I'll be fine, don't worry." Steve chuckled slightly with a bashful smile, lowering his eyes to the floor briefly before he returned his gaze to mine. "Goodnight, Anna... And thank you, again. For everything."

I nodded in response with a soft smile, giving him a small wave in farewell before I slowly turned and walked away, all the while fighting the urge to go back and triple check he was okay. I mentally slapped myself slightly, telling myself Steve didn't need me fussing over him. I determinedly continued to walk forwards, my feet automatically heading in the direction of the lab where Howard and Abe would undoubtedly still be working.

XxXxXx

 ** _June 17th, 1943_**

I yawned tiredly as I stepped out of the small barracks that Peggy and I shared—being the only females that permanently stayed on site—and slowly stretched as the brisk air of dawn bit at my face, chasing away any previous remnants of sleep. My combat boots trudged softly against the concrete as I made my way towards the training grounds, intent on going for my usual morning jog around the track before the rest of camp stirred to life. I paused when I reached the edge of the field, however, realizing someone had actually beat me to it this morning as I caught sight of another figure through the dim light of dawn. I cocked my head to the side and slowly approached, wondering who had gotten up before me to train—an achievement that was a sure rarity in this camp.

As I got closer, I could make out more of the small figure—the familiar blonde hair and skinny frame coming into focus—and I smiled slightly as I noticed that he was doing a variety of warm up exercises, realizing with a bloom of warmth in my chest that he had listened to what I had said last night.

"You know, when I suggested that you warm up slowly before training, I didn't quite mean that you had to get up at the crack of dawn," I commented lightly, hiding a smile when he jumped and twirled around to face me, obviously not having noticed my approach. I shook my head slightly in amusement, wondering if me creeping up on him and scaring the crap out of him every time we talked was going to become a thing now. This was the second time I had accidentally done it in the last three days alone.

"Agent—" he started in shock, before quickly correcting himself at my look, " _Anna._ I... I didn't expect you to be out so early."

"I could say the same." I smirked, cocking an eyebrow at him pointedly, to which he blushed slightly and looked down. "How long have you been out here?"

Steve briefly glanced up at me before returning his gaze to the floor in front of him, his expression slightly sheepish as he replied. "Er... I'm not certain... An hour, maybe?"

" _Steve._ " I sighed in exasperation, shaking my head with a fond smile. "It's just before five in the morning, and training doesn't start until six. I think you can afford to sleep in an extra hour or so in the future and _start_ warming up at five, no?"

"I know... I just... I really want this to work," Steve quietly admitted with a small sigh, his gaze still on the ground by his feet as he shuffled slightly in embarrassment. I felt my heart melt slightly at the soft admission, the yearning and quiet hope in his voice tugging at something deep within me.

"I know—and I hope it does—but passing out from exhaustion because you're not sleeping enough isn't going to help you much either," I pointed out gently. I waited until his eyes raised to meet mine before I nodded my head in the direction of the mess hall where the recruits would soon be headed for breakfast. "You should go get some food with the others before training begins."

Steve nodded his head slightly and pulled on his jacket that was folded neatly on a nearby bench, turning to leave after sending me a small smile. I called out to him after he had taken a few steps, a grin playing on the edges of my lips as I spoke. "Head back here fifteen minutes before training and I'll walk you through some good warm up stretches."

He stopped, turning to look at me in surprise with his mouth opening and closing for a long moment before he seemed to give up and merely nodded in reply with a grateful smile. I chuckled quietly under my breath as I watched him walk away, slowly shaking my head with a fond smile before I turned and took off at an easy jog around the track.

XxXxXx

"Here."

I paused in my light cool down stretches at the sudden voice behind me, wiping the slight dampness off of my forehead as I turned and saw Steve standing there, a steaming coffee in his hand as he held it out to me with a hesitant smile.

He shifted slightly in embarrassment when I cocked an eyebrow in question, a light blush gracing his cheeks as he tried to explain. "I... I figured I owed you one... You know, after yesterday..."

"Thank you, Steve. You didn't need to do that though." I shook my head lightly, gratefully taking the offered coffee from him with a soft smile, slightly touched that he had bothered to even think of that. I instantly took a small sip of the steaming liquid, letting out a small sigh of contentment as the familiar taste of caffeine filled my mouth and relieved me of the slight headache that had been forming.

I sent him another grateful smile as I clutched the hot drink to my chest before spending the next ten minutes guiding him through the different effective warm up stretches that he could go through before training. Even though I made sure to keep them all fairly simple, I was still slightly impressed with how quickly he picked it all up and memorized each one. When I caught sight of Peggy approaching out of the corner of my eye, I quickly gave Steve another encouraging smile and a small nod, before I turned and walked over to her as she came to a halt a short distance away.

"You didn't pick one up for me?" Peggy asked with a raised eyebrow when I reached her side, eyeing the coffee in my hands with a small smile playing around the edges of her lips.

"I must have forgot, sorry." I shrugged slightly, giving her an overly innocent smile when she shot me a disbelieving look.

"In all the years I've known you, you've never forgotten once," Peggy pointed out casually, her lips twitching as she glanced down at her clipboard and tried to hide a smile.

"Must be a bad day..." I stated with a mischievous grin, giving her a wink when she snorted lightly in amusement.

"You didn't get it, did you?" Peggy stated more than asked, a bright gleam entering her eyes as her gaze flickered pointedly to Steve, who was thankfully out of earshot and still stretching a few yards away, before landing back on me with a knowing look.

"How..." I started to ask, before I trailed off and shook my head. "You know what, I don't even want to know."

"You have that smile on your face," she answered anyway, a smirk growing on her face as she spoke and her eyes practically glowing with her amusement.

"What smile?" The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it, confusion rising in me as I cocked my head to one side and examined her face warily, knowing I was probably going to regret asking her that any second now.

"The smile you get whenever someone mentions him." She nodded in Steve's direction as she spoke and I shot her an incredulous look, desperately fighting back the slight blush that was trying to light up my cheeks at her words. _And there was the regret I had been waiting for..._

"I think the lack of caffeine is getting to you, Evie. You're clearly becoming delusional," I muttered lowly. I shook my head as she let out a laugh and opened her mouth to respond, only for her to close it again seconds later as we both caught sight of the recruits starting to slowly filter out onto the training field, gradually forming a line before us. Peggy huffed quietly in annoyance at their timing and shot me one last look, before we both straightened and fully turned our attention to the group of candidates.

I barely paid attention over the next couple of hours, letting Peggy and the drill sergeant lead the day's training session whilst I just jotted down notes about each candidate—marking the different times it took them to complete an activity, commenting on what I thought each of their strengths and weaknesses were, making small annotations on their psychological strength and how they seemed to cope under pressure in different situations. I glanced up after finishing writing another side note for Abe to review—about how Paxton was clearly intelligent, but his sweet disposition seemed ill-suited for the front lines of war, just as I had suspected when we had interviewed him—and briefly watched the candidates crawl through the mud with their rifles under a low barbed wire obstacle course.

My gaze unconsciously found Steve's small form as he slowly crawled through the mud with his rifle, and even from here, I could see how his jaw was clenched with determination as he pushed himself forward, ignoring the others moving faster on either side of him. I couldn't help but smile slightly when I noticed that, although Steve was still struggling, his asthma seemed to be a little better today—something which caused relief to flood through me, glad that the warm up session this morning had clearly helped in some way.

I was just about to look back down at my clipboard and make a few more notes on the other candidates when a strange movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I turned my head to get a clearer look, a small frown marring my face in confusion. The muscles in my body immediately tensed when my gaze landed on Hodge, who had stopped near the end of the obstacle course to turn onto his back and start forcefully kicking one of the wooden posts holding the barbed wire up. A quiet snarl left my lips as the wooden post gave way and the barbed wire came crashing down onto Steve, who was only half-way through the obstacle course. I instantly started to stalk towards Hodge, fury practically radiating from me as I locked my gaze onto his form, ready to pummel every last shred of arrogance out of the cocky recruit.

" _Gracie, no,_ " Peggy's quiet voice suddenly hissed behind me as she grabbed my arm and tugged me back a step so I was standing by her side. I growled lowly in frustration, but forced myself to stay put next to her when she shot me a warning look, knowing that she was right and I couldn't just attack Hodge in the middle of a training session, no matter how much I wanted to.

"That son of a bitch," I snarled in a low voice, glaring viciously at his back as he walked smugly off to the side to join the other recruits who had finished the exercise and were waiting for their next orders. I briefly glanced over to check that Steve was alright and to see if he needed me to go and help him out of there, but relaxed slightly in relief when I saw that he had already managed to climb his way out and finish the course, slowly going to stand next to the others who were lined up.

I forced myself to remain still until the drill sergeant dismissed the recruits for the day, quickly jumping in and telling Hodge to stay behind before he could disappear off alongside the other candidates.

"Ma'am?" Hodge asked with a confused frown as he looked at me. I didn't bother to reply, instead choosing to just shoot him a menacing glare whilst I waited for the other recruits to finish leaving the training grounds. I had to fight to hide a smirk, however, when I noticed his hand twitch instinctively to shield his crotch in response to my furious glower, obviously remembering what had happened the last time I had been pissed off with him on the first day of training.

"Drop and give me fifty, Hodge."

"Wha—" he started to ask, but my vicious glare abruptly cut him off. I took a step forwards, noticing Peggy and the drill sergeant shifting slightly out of the corner of my eye as they watched from a few paces away.

"I said _drop and give me fifty, soldier,_ " I snapped, my tone low and dangerous, silently daring him to defy me as I stared him down. He gulped slightly, looking away from me and briefly glancing at Peggy and the drill sergeant, as if wondering whether they were going to help him or not. His face paled slightly as he realized that, no, they weren't going to do a damn thing, and he quickly dropped to the floor soon after, tiredly grunting from the long day of training as he started to do the fifty extra push-ups I had just commanded.

"Next time you decide to do something stupid, like kick a post down, you sure as hell better pray to God that I don't see you," I snarled to him in a low voice, causing him to momentarily freeze and look up with a small wince, obviously realizing that I had caught him earlier. He lowered his head and quickly started to continue his push-ups when I shot him another fierce glare, causing me to smirk in satisfaction as I watched him. _No one would know if I accidentally lost my count to fifty and made him start again..._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay, I don't have asthma and I'm not close to anyone who suffers from it either, so I'm not sure if any of what I wrote is particularly plausible. I did research into asthma attacks and ways to calm them naturally without an inhaler—as the treatment for asthma back then was almost non-existent—and this was basically what I picked up.**

 **Just to clarify, he obviously wasn't having a severe asthma attack as I know otherwise Anna wouldn't have been able to help him without medication and it probably would have been fatal. It was only a mild attack, which I know can be resolved without medication sometimes.**

 **Random Trivia**

 **Hot caffeinated drinks can allegedly help in a small way for mild asthma attacks as they open up the airways in the lungs slightly, therefore helping to momentarily relieve the symptoms of asthma.**

 **Reviews**

 **Thank you to all those who have** **reviewed,** **favourited and followed this story. I really appreciate it, guys!**

 _ **Jo: Thank you so much for reviewing again! *gives virtual hug* I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Hope you enjoy this one!**_

 _ **—**_

 **Let me know how I'm doing, guys! Favourite line/scene? Favourite moment?**

 **Reviews are love! (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Thank you to my Beta—the amazing** ** _NeahZoldyck13—_ for helping me out and just generally being a wonderful human being.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

 ** _June 20th, 1943_**

I was sitting in the back of the Jeep that was currently parked at the half-way point of the long track circling the perimeter of the entire base camp, sighing in slight boredom as I flipped through the notes Peggy and I had been taking to track the progress of each of the candidates, trying to distract myself as I impatiently waited for the group to reach where we were. I sighed again as I stared at the list of information in front of me. Hodge had been doing frustratingly well over the past five days, easily at the top of the group with his results, while all the other candidates were doing the expected average. Except for Steve, that is. He was barely scraping through each day of training, currently ranked at the bottom of the group's progress report, and undeniably the weakest physically in the group.

I wasn't bothered by that, however, and I knew that Abe wasn't either. The doctor had told me a hundred times over that he was looking for qualities beyond just the physical, and in those areas, Steve greatly excelled. His rank at the bottom of the group and his supposed position of 'weakest candidate' ended with physical ability; in all other aspects, he was undoubtedly the strongest recruit. His strong mental attitude, his unfailing determination to keep going, his incredible inner strength, his steel hard will to get back up every time he fell—they were all qualities that the other candidates were decidedly lacking in, and every time Abe stopped by to watch the training, I knew that he saw the same awe-inspiring man as I did when he looked at Steve's relentless determination to never give up.

"PICK UP THE PACE, LADIES! LET'S GO, LET'S GO! DOUBLE TIME! COME ON, FASTER! FASTER! MOVE! MOVE!" The faint yelling of the drill sergeant overseeing the run today drifted to my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts as Peggy turned around from the front seat with a pencil held between her teeth. I followed her gaze, turning around in my seat to watch the group of candidates appear round the corner and tiredly jog alongside the drill sergeant towards us. "SQUAD, HALT!"

The men all stumbled to a stop next to the lone flag pole at the drill sergeant's shout, turning to look at him in confusion as they lightly panted. I frowned slightly as my eyes failed to spot Steve amongst the men, panicking slightly as I scanned the group again for any sign of his small form. _Where was he? Had something happened? Was he okay? Please, let him be okay..._

A relieved breath escaped me when, moments later, my eyes landed on his familiar form standing slightly further back from the others. But, the relief only lasted a split-second before concern spiked in me once more as I took note of his position. He was bent over slightly with his hands placed on his knees as he heaved in exhaustion, his whole body shuddering with ragged gasps as he desperately tried to regain his breath from the grueling run. I tensed slightly, fighting off the urge to go over to him as the drill sergeant started to yell at the recruits before him again. "That flag means we're only at the half-way point! First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Fahlett and Agent Carter!"

I didn't remove my worried gaze from Steve's form as all the other recruits crowded around the pole and scrambled to try and climb it, too scared that Steve would have another asthma attack if he didn't regain his breath soon.

"IF THAT'S ALL YOU GOT THEN THIS ARMY IS IN TROUBLE! GET UP THERE, HODGE!"

Despite myself, I briefly let my gaze flicker over to the group huddled around the pole for a split-second at the drill sergeant's words, glaring as I saw the arrogant recruit start to heave himself up the pole, and hoping with everything in me that he'd fail. I'd sooner run him over with this Jeep than let him have a ride back with Peggy and I. It turned out my worries were unnecessary and I snorted quietly in amusement as I watched Hodge barely even make it half-way up the pole before he slipped back down and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

My gaze soon returned to Steve's form again after I was sure that Hodge wasn't getting back up any time soon, and I instantly let out a low breath in relief when I saw that Steve had straightened and had managed to steady his breathing to a less worrying level in the few moments that my attention had been diverted from him.

"Nobody's gotten that flag in seventeen years!" the drill sergeant told the recruits, seeming way too happy about that fact as he crossed his arms and looked at the recruits still unsuccessfully trying to scramble their way up the pole. "Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in!"

I sighed slightly and turned back around in my seat, giving Peggy a small roll of my eyes as we both waited for the driver to start up the engine again and take us back to base camp so we could sort through the stack of paperwork that, unfortunately, needed to be completed before the last day of training tomorrow.

"ROGERS, I SAID FALL IN."

The drill sergeant's loud voice suddenly reached my ears and I jumped slightly in my seat, immediately twisting back around to see what was going on behind me. I quickly followed the drill sergeant's line of sight in confusion until my eyes landed on Steve, out of formation from the other recruits as he stood beside the flag pole. I frowned slightly as I stared at Steve's form, wondering for a moment why he wasn't instantly following orders like he normally did, but then a smile started to pull at my lips as he bent down and I realized what he was planning on doing. I leaned forward slightly and watched closely as he pulled out the large pin from the base of the pole.

The pole immediately tipped sideways and fell to the ground with a loud clang, and I had to bite down hard on my lip to stop myself from laughing as Steve casually walked over to the flag and pulled it free. I couldn't stop the small snort of amusement that escaped me, however, when I caught sight of the stunned faces of the drill sergeant and all of the recruits behind him as Steve handed the flag over with a respectful "Thank you, sir," before he turned and climbed into the back of the Jeep as if nothing had just happened.

I grinned at Steve as he settled into the free seat beside me, nodding at the driver to take us back to camp when the man turned his head to glance in my direction. He immediately started the engine and put the Jeep into gear, leaving the other recruits behind us to run the long distance back as we drove off down the track without a backwards glance. I turned my attention back to Steve as the wind lightly whipped around the open Jeep, reaching up a hand to try and tame a few annoying strands of dark hair that had blown free from my loose bun.

"Like I said, wisdom is often a far greater strength than brute force," I commented lightly, referring to the conversation we had on his first night of training. "You did well today, Steve."

A small smile curled at the edges of my lips as he blushed and ducked his head slightly at the praise before flicking his gaze back up to meet mine. "Thanks, but I hardly did anything impressive."

I snorted slightly and shook my head. "The drill sergeant wasn't kidding when he said that no one has gotten that flag in seventeen years, Steve. But _you_ did. I'd call that pretty damn impressive."

"I wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for you," he murmured, his gaze briefly flickering out to watch the scenery passing us by before his eyes met mine once more. When he caught sight of my confused look, he quickly clarified. "I wouldn't have even made it that far around the track today without your help with my asthma."

I gazed at him for a moment in silent disbelief before shaking my head in amazement. "When are you going to see yourself clearly?" I softly asked. I sighed slightly when he shot me a bewildered look, an affectionate smile pulling at the edges of my lips as I explained. "I had nothing to do with it, Steve. _You_ are the one who got into Project REBIRTH. _You_ are the one who has left Abe and I in absolute awe of you. _You_ are the one who has pushed yourself through every day of training, despite all the odds stacked against you. _You_ are the one who figured out a way to get that flag when no one else could... You're an amazing man, Steve Rogers. And I hope, one day, you'll be able to see that."

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but the words obviously caught in his throat as he closed his mouth a moment later, blushing lightly and bashfully lowering his gaze instead. The small smile on my face widened as I watched him, letting out a small chuckle and leaning back in my seat as the camp slowly came into sight in the distance.

XxXxXx

 ** _June 21st, 1943_**

"Faster, ladies! Come on!" I called out to the recruits as they let out small grunts and tiredly forced themselves to continue doing another set of push-ups.

Peggy eyed them all from beside me with a shake of her head. "My grandmother had more life in her, God rest her soul."

"You're not really thinking about picking Rogers, are you?"

The faint mention of Steve's name immediately caught my attention, causing me to twirl around and watch as Colonel Phillips and Abe approached us from the other side of the training field.

Abe shrugged and adjusted his glasses as they both pulled to a stop next to a truck that was a few feet away from where Peggy and I were currently standing. "I am more than just thinking about it. He is the clear choice."

"When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought 'what the hell', maybe he'd be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd _pick_ him," Phillips stated with distaste, shaking his head and turning his attention to the group of recruits behind me as Peggy called for them to change to jumping jacks. He grimaced slightly as he watched Steve struggle to keep up with the others. "Stick a needle in that kid's arm and it's going to go straight through him."

"Look at that," Phillips nodded to Steve a second later with a small sigh. "He's making me cry."

"I am looking for qualities beyond just the physical," Abe responded calmly, not hesitating to defend his decision as he watched Steve weakly force himself into another jumping jack. Abe's gaze drifted to me after a moment, and a small smile turned up the edges of his lips as he pointedly nodded his head in my direction to Phillips. "Anna agrees with me on the choice."

I held in a groan when Phillips' gaze snapped to me, one of his brows raised in disbelief as he eyed me. "You better be kidding me, Agent Fahlett."

"No, sir." I shook my head, smirking slightly when he let out an annoyed sigh and moving over to stand beside them. "I believe that Mr. Rogers is the best candidate for the procedure."

His eyes flickered between Abe and I for a moment in disbelief. "Do you two know how long it took to set up this project? All the grovelling I had to do in front of Senator what's-his-name's committees?"

"Brandt," Abe informed him with a small nod. "I know, I know. We are well aware of your efforts."

"Then throw me a bone," Phillips scoffed, switching his gaze between the two of us as he spoke. "Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast. He obeys orders. He's a _soldier."_

"He's also an arrogant son of a bitch," I spat quietly, ignoring the look Phillips shot me and briefly turning to give Hodge a dark glare. Abe chuckled lowly at my words, his eyes sparkling with mirth as I turned back to face them both with a small huff.

"What Anna is trying to say, is that he is a bully."

"You don't win wars with niceness, doctor," Phillips responded with a roll of his eyes, moving to the back of the truck to grab a grenade from one of the weapons cases there. "You win it with guts."

"Are you mad?" I hissed, my eyes widening as I watched him casually pull out the safety pin before he launched the grenade at the group of recruits before us with a loud warning yell of "GRENADE!"

I instinctively moved forwards to where the grenade had landed as all the candidates let out yells and quickly scrambled in different directions, diving behind any cover that they could find in the surrounding area to save themselves from the deadly blast that was about to go off at any moment. All of them, that is, except for one. My heart leapt into my throat and my chest constricted in inexplicable fear as Steve beat me to the grenade, horror rising in me as I watched him dive forwards without hesitation and cover the deadly weapon with his small form.

"GET BACK! EVERYONE GET BACK! ANNA, GO!" he screamed as his eyes landed on me, waving desperately for me to run as he curled his body tightly around the grenade and clenched his eyes shut, obviously planning to soften the blast with his body. I couldn't move, however. I was frozen in place as I stared at the amazingly, _foolishly_ , brave man before me. _No... Not Steve... Please, God, not Steve..._

There was a long, agonizing pause where nothing happened, and then heads hesitantly started peaking over their cover all around us and Steve slowly opened his eyes in confusion when there was still no blast.

"Dummy grenade. All clear," a faint voice called out from somewhere to my left. I paid whoever it was no mind, however, as my eyes briefly fluttered shut and a long sigh of relief left me.

"Is this a test?" Steve asked breathlessly, hesitantly uncurling himself from the dud grenade and pushing himself into a sitting position as he glanced between Phillips, Peggy, Abe and I in confusion.

I shook my head slightly at him and had to choke back the laugh that suddenly threatened to bubble up my throat, an awed smile gracing my features as this extraordinary man once again managed to stun me into silence. He had been willing to sacrifice his life, with absolutely no hesitation, to save everyone here—the majority of whom had been nothing but complete assholes to him since the moment he had arrived at camp.

I managed to pull my gaze away from Steve long enough to look over at Phillips with a raised brow and a small smirk, knowing that he couldn't deny that Steve was the right candidate after that little display. "Well?"

I had to repress a snort as Phillips grumbled "He's still skinny," before turning and walking off without another word.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Here's the next chapter, guys! Sorry that it's slightly shorter than usual, but I promise the next chapter is going to be extra long to make up for it! So, training is officially over now, which means we'll be moving onto the procedure in the next few chapters!**

 **Oh, and a small hint for next chapter: There are going to be some cute Steve/Anna moments (which reminds me, I really need to think of a ship name for them. Any ideas? Stanna? Aneve? Okay, I'm really bad at this. Let me know if you have any better ideas or like either of them two) and some long overdue bonding between Anna and Abe. I may throw in there a small flashback of their history somewhere as well, if that's something you guys would be interested in seeing?**

 **Just leave me a review or shoot a PM my way if there's anything else you guys would particularly like to see in this fic and I'll do my best to work it into the storyline!**

 **Reviews**

 **Again, I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of those who have favourited, followed and reviewed! I really appreciate each and every one of you. Every time I see an alert come up, it genuinely does brighten my day, so thank you.**

 _ **Kimberley: Thank you so much for your review! That was my inspiration for writing this story, actually. I really wanted to read a CA:TFA based fic and there really are so few out there, like you said! That's when the idea for Stand or Fall came to me—and here we are now! (: I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**_

 _ **Jo: Aw, man, I love you! Thank you so much for reviewing again—it really does mean the world to me! Your reviews always bring a smile to my face—so thank you, thank you, thank you. Hope you enjoy this one just as much! (:**_

 _ **—**_

 **Let me know how I'm doing, guys! Favourite line/scene? Favourite moment?**

 **Until next time! x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **A huge thank you to my Beta— _NeahZoldyck13—_ who has helped me an incredible amount with editing this fic (and trying to teach me some basic German, lol).**

 **This chapter is dedicated to Jo, for being an amazing human being and keeping me writing this fic over the past few weeks.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 ** _June 22nd, 1943_**

"Looks like you called it all along."

"You mean...?" I trailed off, tentative hope filling me as I wondered whether it was truly happening, whether Steve had truly been picked to be the first super soldier.

Abe smiled and nodded his head in confirmation. "Yes, Fräulein. The procedure is tomorrow."

"Thank God... I had feared for a moment that our decision would be overruled and Hodge would be picked," I sighed, running a hand over my face. Relief spread through me at the news that Steve had been chosen. But, at the same time, I couldn't help the inexplicable fear and worry that twisted deep in my stomach as I thought about him going through the procedure tomorrow. "...Does he know?"

"Yes, he was just informed. The other recruits were reassigned an hour ago."

I nodded my head slightly, trying to fight the deep urge within me to go and see him that very second to make sure that he was okay. I knew that this was what he wanted, what he had been fighting to achieve this whole time, but I still wanted to ensure that he was having no doubts. Because now that the procedure was happening in the morning, now that the whole thing was becoming _real,_ I found myself suddenly unsure about tomorrow. Not because of the procedure, but because it was _Steve_ that was at risk.

I shook my head and sighed, realizing how goddamn scared I was of something happening to him in the morning, especially after the dummy grenade scenario yesterday. I still don't know why I had reacted so strongly to what had happened, but no matter how much I tried to brush it off as nothing, the memory still niggled at the back of my head like a constant reminder.

Abe somehow seemed to know what I was thinking as he sent me a small smirk, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses as he spoke. "I was just going to go and speak with him, actually. Would you do me a favor and find the bottle of Schnapps stashed in my room? I have a feeling a drink would be appreciated to calm the nerves."

"For me, for you, or for him?" I chuckled, shaking my head as Abe shrugged his shoulders slightly at my question, as if to say 'Who knows?'. A smile lifted up the edges of my lips. "Of course I'll grab it for you, Abe."

"If my memory serves correctly, then it should be in the bottom draw of my desk," he replied with a small, grateful nod.

"No prob—" I started to say, turning to leave when a thought suddenly occurred to me and I froze. "Wait, when you say Schnapps, do you mean that bottle you brought with you from Augsburg? The one you've refused to touch? The one you've been saving for a special occasion?"

Abe nodded with a small smile, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder. "I cannot think of a better occasion on which to open it, Fräulein."

My eyes softened as I stared at him, nodding my head and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. He squeezed my shoulder gently before he turned and headed for the barracks where Steve was currently residing. I watched him go for a moment, truly honored that I had been blessed enough in my life to meet such an amazing man, before I shook off my thoughts and headed towards his room to retrieve one of the last relics of his home that he possessed.

XxXxXx

I quietly slipped into the room, lightly clutching the bottle of alcohol in my hand as I waited just inside the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the conversation between Abe and Steve as I heard the doctor explaining what had happened to Schmidt a few years ago.

"The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So good becomes great, and bad becomes worse," Abe murmured softly a few minutes later, leaning forward slightly as he spoke. He caught sight of me standing in the doorway from the shift in position and paused in his speech, nodding at me to join them as he patted the space next to him in invitation.

"Don't let me interrupt." I grinned, following Abe's silent request and quickly making my way over to the two. I settled next to Abe and shot a small smile at Steve in greeting as I handed the German doctor the bottle of Schnapps I had dug out of his desk, silently thankful that he had a good memory and had been correct in where it was stashed, otherwise I probably would have still been searching for it now amongst the organized chaos of Abe's room.

Abe was quiet for a moment, accepting the bottle with a grateful murmur of thanks, before focusing his attention back on Steve and continuing their previous conversation as if they had never been interrupted. "This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man, who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows _compassion_."

"Thanks," Steve murmured as his brows furrowed slightly. A small grin quirked up the edges of his lips as he continued. "...I think."

"Always so beautifully poetic, Abe," I teased, lightly nudging him in the side with my elbow as he let out a low chuckle and shook his head in response.

Abe glanced between Steve and I with an amused tilt of his lips for a moment before he gestured to the glasses conveniently sitting beside Steve as he opened the bottle of Schnapps in his hand. Steve quickly reached over to grab three of them, distributing them amongst us after Abe had filled them with a small amount of alcohol.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing," Abe told Steve once we all had a glass in our hands. "That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a _good man."_

Steve looked at Abe for a moment before he raised his glass in a toast with a small smile. "To the little guys."

"To the good men," I added softly, smiling when Steve looked my way in surprise. I raised my drink with Abe, and the three of us clinked our glasses together in agreement of the toast before we all went to down our alcohol. The rim of my glass had just touched my lips when I paused, lowering my hand and watching as Abe suddenly waved his arm and reached forwards, snatching the drink out of Steve's hands before he could swallow any.

"No, no. What am I doing? You have procedure tomorrow," Abe muttered in explanation when Steve shot him a confused look. "No fluids."

Steve nodded his head in understanding, watching as Abe poured the content of his glass into the other with a sigh. "Alright. We'll drink it after."

"No, _I_ don't have procedure tomorrow," Abe responded, causing me to snort in amusement as he shook his head and gestured to himself with a frown. "You drink it after, I'll drink it now."

"I'll join you on that," I chirped in agreement, stealing Abe's glass out of his hand before he could drink the double shot and swapping it for my less full one. I gave him an impish grin when he turned to me with an amused, but exasperated, look and raised my glass in toast. "Cheers!"

I caught sight of the small, warm smile on Steve's face as he watched the two of us interact and my lips unconsciously tugged up of their own accord in return. I sent him a quick wink before I knocked back the alcohol in my glass without a flinch, Abe copying me a moment later and downing the small amount in his glass after throwing me another look.

"Well, I suppose we should be leaving, Anna," Abe sighed after a moment, breaking the short silence that had fallen between us as he rose to his feet. I nodded and copied his movements, watching with an affectionate grin as Abe paused in front of Steve and placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Try to get some rest, hm?"

Abe patted him on the shoulder when Steve nodded in return before turning and slowly making his way over to the door. I gave Steve a small smile as I nodded slightly in farewell. "Night, Steve—and like Abe said, try to get some rest tonight, yeah?"

I turned to follow Abe out of the room, but stilled before I could even take a step when Steve hesitantly cleared his throat. "Are you going to be there tomorrow?"

"Do you want me to be?" I questioned curiously, ignoring Abe's smirk as he quietly exited the room. I turned around to fully face Steve again so I could see his reaction to my question. I didn't know exactly why I had asked him that, the words just slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Of course I planned on going to the procedure tomorrow. I had been helping work on this program for the last couple of years, so the better question would be: Why would I _not_ be there? And yet, I inexplicably wanted to know the answer. For some reason, it seemed strangely important to me in that moment that _he_ wanted me to go.

My lips tugged up into a soft smile of their own accord when he nodded his head in reply and averted his gaze in embarrassment for a brief moment. I let out a quiet breath and tried to keep the unexplainable relief out of my voice as I finally answered his question with a small nod. "Then I'll be there."

I couldn't help but return his answering smile before I turned and finally walked over to the exit. I paused when I reached the door, however, and looked back over my shoulder at Steve. "I'm proud of you, Steve. I knew you could do it," I murmured sincerely.

He looked over at me with surprise before a low, embarrassed chuckle left his lips when he saw the serious expression on my face. "I think you were the only one who believed that."

"I don't think I was. But even if that was true, I have a feeling that soon everyone is going to see you the way that I do." I shook my head with a small smile, my gaze automatically locking with his across the room as I spoke. My heart thumped hard in my chest at his answering breathtaking smile, and, as I momentarily found myself becoming strangely transfixed by his beautiful azure eyes, a voice whispered in the back of my head that everyone may not see him _quite_ the exact same way as I was starting to.

"But you were the first. And I'll never forget that. No matter how many people may or not believe in me in the future, I'll always remember that you said I could, when everyone else said I couldn't," he murmured softly.

Warmth spread through my chest at his sincere words, and I found myself inexplicably unable to speak for a short pause as a swarm of emotions hit me. I cleared my throat lightly, trying to ease the sudden tightness in my throat, and sent him a soft smile as I reluctantly bid him a goodnight in a low voice. "Remember to try to get some rest, Steve. I'll see you in the morning."

Steve nodded his head and whispered a quiet "Goodnight, Anna," as I turned and stepped outside, shutting the door softly behind me. I immediately spotted Abe leaning against the wall outside and smiled as I made my way over to him. He raised the bottle of Schnapps in his hand with an eyebrow cocked in silent question as I reached his side. I nodded to him in response, knowing he was asking whether I wanted a few more drinks before we turned in for the night. As he offered his arm to me and I linked mine through his, I noticed the sparkle in his eye as he looked down at me with a sly smirk.

"So, how was Mr. Rogers?" he repeated the words he had said to me at the night of the Expo, the humor in his voice telling me he knew exactly what he was doing.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. I shook my head and shot him an exasperated look as I lightly slapped his arm, and, with a teasing grin, gave him the same response I had given him that night: "Not another word, Abe. Not another word."

XxXxXx

Abe settled into a seat at one of the lab's workbenches whilst I went to fetch two spare glasses, stupidly having forgotten to bring the others from Steve's room. I had just found the few glasses we kept stashed in the lab for occasions such as this and turned around with two clutched in my hands, opening my mouth to make some sarcastic comment about how often we seem to be drinking in the lab recently, when the words died on my lips as I caught sight of the look on Abe's face as he stared blankly ahead.

"Abe, it's going to be fine," I reassured him quietly, not needing him to say anything for me to know what he was currently thinking—the worry on his face and the distant look in his eyes gave him away. I gently set the two glasses down between us as I slid into the seat opposite him, cocking my head to the side slightly as my eyes scanned over his face in concern.

"Sometimes, I think you know me too well, Fräulein." Abe chuckled lightly as he snapped out of his thoughts, sending me a soft smile before he sighed and his weighted gaze landed on me. "I can't help but worry about tomorrow, Anna. There are still so many things that could go wrong... What if I am just sending a good man to his death?"

I internally flinched at the question. Just the mere thought of something happening to Steve was enough to momentarily knock the breath out of my lungs and cause my gut to clench in fear.

"Abe, _it's going to be fine,_ " I repeated more firmly this time, my voice coming out confident and strong, even as I tried to internally convince myself of the words at the same time. "You've worked on this serum for years, and I don't doubt for a second that you wouldn't be going ahead with this procedure tomorrow unless you were a hundred percent certain that it was ready."

"You always seem to know what to say to make me feel better," Abe smiled briefly, letting out a low sigh as he continued. "After what happened with Schmidt..."

"I know, Abe... But that's not going to happen again. The serum wasn't complete. Schmidt knew that and yet he took it anyway. What happened to him, what he became, it's _his_ fault, not yours," I murmured, reaching out to briefly squeeze his hand across the table reassuringly before I grabbed the bottle of alcohol beside us and opened it, starting to fill up the two empty glasses on the table. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Of course. It is not something I could easily forget," Abe chuckled, his eyes softening slightly as he looked over at me with a fond smile at the memory.

I passed him one of the now full glasses of alcohol before I slid the other one towards myself, tracing my fingers absently along the rim of the glass as I sent him a soft smile in return. "Do you remember what you said to me?"

 _— Flashback —_

 ** _November 13th, 1940_**

 _"Dr. Erskine, we need to move," I commanded the moment I entered the previously locked room, keeping my voice low and urgent as I slipped the key I had stolen off of one of the guards back into my pocket._

 _"What's going on? The guards—" the genius scientist started, looking up from where he had been sat behind his desk with his head in his hands and pushing his glasses further up his nose._

 _"Drugged, along with Schmidt. But we need to move fast if we want to get out of here before they wake up," I explained hurriedly, gesturing for him to follow me. "We're not sure how long the sedative will keep Schmidt unconscious for now that he's been enhanced by the serum—so the faster we get out of here, the better."_

 _Dr. Erskine nodded his head, quickly shoving a few papers scattered on his desk, and a handful of other random belongings placed around the room, into an empty bag by the end of his bed before moving over to where I was waiting in the doorway once he was finished. We quickly walked out of the room together, his eyes sparkling in amusement as his gaze briefly flickered over my clothing; I was still dressed in the maid's outfit that had been Peggy's and my disguise since we infiltrated Johann Schmidt's headquarters, Castle Kaufmann, two days ago._

 _"I assume it is safe to say that you are not a maid then, Fräulein_ _Grace?" Erskine asked with a chuckle, using the name that I had given him yesterday when I had served him his meal._

 _I smiled slightly when we reached the end of the hallway, where Peggy was waiting for us (also still in her maid uniform), having been on lookout whilst I retrieved Erskine from his room._

 _"You too,_ _Fräulein_ _Eva?" Erskine questioned once he caught sight of Peggy, glancing between the two of us with a raised eyebrow and small smile._

 _"About that..." I muttered, sending him a sheepish grin as we all started quietly jogging down the hallway, making sure to keep my voice low as we herded him down the more unused passageways, just in case we had missed a guard, or one had somehow woken up already._

 _"We may have lied about that little detail. I'm Agent Anna Fahlett and this beautiful woman—" I gestured to Peggy, who rolled her eyes in exasperation and shot me an amused look before returning her attention ahead of us, "—is Agent Peggy Carter."_

 _"We were sent to break you out of here and take you to the Strategic Scientific Reserve," Peggy added, her British accent ringing clear even with her low tone of voice. Abe nodded his head slightly in response, fighting to catch his breath as we briefly came to a stop at the end of another passageway, finally reaching the door leading to the outside._

 _Peggy and I shared a glance and nodded to each other, grabbing our guns from the thigh holsters hidden under our dresses. We double-checked the weapons before I slipped another key that I had stolen off of a guard into the door, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when it obligingly unlocked with no problem. I opened the heavy wooden door slightly, easing my body through the small gap as I glanced around to ensure it was all clear before signaling for them to follow me out._

 _The next few minutes were silent as we safely made it around the castle without seeing a single soul, heading for the more unused side gate in the outer walls to the east of the castle. I hissed quietly in annoyance as we rounded the final corner, seeing headlights coming down the drive and towards the gate we had planned to exit through. Peggy and I abruptly yanked Erskine back around the corner and out of sight as one of the men got out of the truck to open the gate, flattening ourselves against the cold stone wall behind us._

 _"Damn it," I whispered, huffing slightly as I wondered why there couldn't ever be a mission without a problem arising somewhere along the way. Peggy and I shared a look, silently communicating with each other—a habit we had quickly picked up on a mission soon after we had become partners a few months back—before she nodded her head slightly and turned, waiting until the man got back into the truck before she disappeared into the darkness of the night with a parting "Be careful" thrown over her shoulder._

 _When Erskine shot me a questioning look, I shook my head slightly and answered his silent question. "She's covering the other side of the drive so we have more firing range if it comes to it," I explained. He nodded in understanding and I smiled, muttering under my breath "Which it more than likely will."_

 _I paused, tightening my grip on the gun in my hand as I watched the truck slowly roll to a stop in the middle of the courtyard that was between the castle and the outer gate we needed to get to. "I know this is a lot to ask, but I'm going to need you to trust me."_

 _"I do," Erskine replied without any hesitation, nodding his head and waiting dutifully for my instructions. I paused at his words though, my eyes flying over to look at him in shock as I searched his face for any sign of mockery or jest. He cocked his eyebrow in question when I didn't immediately reply. "Wie geht's, Agent Fahlett?"_

 _"Yes, sorry." I immediately shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts and returning my gaze forward, closely watching the group of guards exit the truck that had just pulled up in front of the castle, waiting carefully for the opportune moment. I cleared my throat quietly, keeping my voice low as I explained. "I'm just not used to seeing men believe in my abilities as an agent."_

 _"Because you're a woman?" Abe questioned beside me in a hushed voice, seeing him frown out of the corner of my eye when I nodded slightly in reply to his question. "Men are fools to believe they are superior to females. From what I have seen, you are just as competent as any man—you and Agent Carter have successfully infiltrated a high-security enemy base, temporarily incapacitated the entire castle guard and the leader of HYDRA, and broke me out of my prison. All in a matter of two days, no?"_

 _"You may be thinking too highly of me. We're not out of this mess yet," I whispered back, hiding my grateful smile as my eyes zoned in on the group of men, who had walked around to the rear end of the truck and opened the back up as they talked quietly amongst themselves._

 _I signalled for Dr. Erskine to follow me as I crouched down and silently ran forwards whilst their backs were turned to us, sighing quietly in relief when we made it across the side of the dark courtyard and were both crouched behind one of the empty trucks that were parked along the right. My eyes glanced over to the outer gate that we needed to get to, plans formulating in my mind as I realized we were going to need some sort of distraction whilst we ran for it. The truck's headlights were pointed in that direction, illuminating the road, and there was no way we would be able to slip out unnoticed otherwise._

 _"It does not matter what I think or what I believe, what's important is that_ ** _you_** _believe in yourself. For I have found that we can achieve the greatest things, if only we believe in ourselves enough to do them," Erskine replied to my earlier comment in a low voice, causing me to briefly glance over at him in surprise._

 _My eyes softened slightly as his words registered in my head and I sent him a heartfelt smile. I had just opened my mouth to respond when a faint thud caused my gaze to snap back to the scene in front of me, watching as the men started to pull cases out of the parked truck they had arrived in before stacking them on the ground. I narrowed my eyes, noticing that one of the larger boxes was a crate of explosives—the other, smaller boxes looking like nothing but basic weapon and ammunition supplies—and frowned slightly in thought as an idea started to form._

 _"I need to believe in myself and my abilities, huh?" I questioned Erskine, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye as he nodded his head firmly. I shook my head slightly and hid a smile, knowing he was going to regret saying that in a minute._

 _I raised my wrist to my mouth, pressing the button on the side of the small black bracelet that would allow me to communicate with Peggy—a radio transmission invention that Howard had given us before we left. "Peggy? Do you copy?"_

 _"I copy, Anna," Peggy's hushed voice responded after a short pause, the volume of the radio set so low that I had to raise the bracelet to my ear to hear her._

 _I sighed quietly in relief at the knowledge that she was still safe, my eyes intently watching the men as they continued to unload crates. "Do you have a visual on the large crate that has just been unloaded?"_

 _"Yes, I have a clear visual. It looks like explosives." When I didn't immediately respond, her voice quietly sounded again. "I'm going to regret letting you take charge of this mission, aren't I?"_

 _"Aim and prepare to fire in sixty seconds," I replied in a low voice, the hint of amusement easily heard in my words as I thought about how hard she was going to hit me for this later._

 _There was a brief pause, before she sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Copy that."_

 _I turned my head to look at Dr. Erskine, who was staring at me in shock as he registered the conversation he had just overheard. I smirked as I cocked my gun, raising an eyebrow at him in amusement. "Ready to run, doctor?"_

 _— End of Flashback —_

"If you are referring to what I think you are, then I told you that you should always believe in yourself," Abe chuckled lowly, his eyes softening in reminiscence as he replied.

I nodded slightly, keeping my gaze steady with his so he would see the honesty in my eyes as I spoke. "I have never forgotten that. It's what I always remember whenever I start to doubt myself. And now, I'm saying it to you, Abe. Believe in yourself, in your work, and stop worrying about the procedure tomorrow. I know that it will work out—not only because this time we have Steve—but because I believe in _you_ , just as you believed in me all those years ago."

His lips quirked up into an affectionate smile as he gazed at me for a long moment before a mischievous sparkle entered his eyes. "Sometimes I question whether that was a valid piece of advice, Fräulein, given two minutes after I told you it, you blew up a crate of explosives and we had to run for our lives before we were incinerated," he lightly teased.

"Seems it allowed us to escape that place and we all returned here safely, I would say that not only was it valid, but a damn good piece of advice." I snorted lightly in humor, giving him an impish grin and a wink at the reminder of what I had done to get us safely out of there. It was an escape plan that Peggy and Abe still liked to make snarky comments about constantly—but hey, it worked, we were all alive, and I had a damn good time carrying it out.

Abe chuckled and shook his head, his eyes sparkling in fond amusement as he raised his glass to me in a toast. "To believing in yourself."

"To believing in others," I added with a smile, raising my hand and lightly knocking my glass against his with a small _clink_ before we both tipped our heads back and downed our drinks with impressive speed, slamming our empty glasses down at the same time as our quiet laughter filled the air.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, I thought I'd throw in a little flashback of how Abe and Anna met. And yes, the procedure is going to be next chapter which I'm pretty damn excited for!**

 **Random Trivia**

 **Peggy was the one to rescue Abe in the Marvel universe. She actually went undercover as a maid called Eva and drugged everyone to help Abe escape, hence why I used it here. It's a shame they never mentioned it in the film, really.**

 **Timeline**

 **For anyone out there who knows the Captain America timeline off by heart, I did tweak the dates slightly for the procedure. In the film, Steve has the procedure on June 22nd, but I've pushed it back a day to June 23rd to fit this scene in better.**

 **Translations**

 ** _'Wie geht's, Agent Fahlett?' =_ How goes it?**

 **However, it can also be used, such as in this instance, to ask if everything's going okay. (Huge thank you to my Beta for telling me this.)**

 **Reviews**

 **Thank you to all those who reviewed, followed and favourited! It's really appreciated, guys!**

 _ **Jo: Another review? Did I mention that I love you? I can't thank you enough for your continued support throughout this story so far. It really means the world to me. And so, I decided to dedicate this chapter to you as a special thank you for being one of the sole reasons that I'm continuing with this story currently. Also, I am incredibly jealous that you went to go see Adele as I absolutely adore her! I'd love to go see her myself some time if I get the chance. I'm glad you had a good time!**_

 _ **—**_

 **Let me know how I'm doing, guys! I love to interact with readers and fellow Marvel fans, so you can guarantee that I'll take the time to respond to each and every review—although, I must admit I especially love those who tell me what they like and don't like, or any theories/ideas about what's going to happen, etc.**

 **Until next time! x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 ** _June 23rd, 1943_**

"I know this neighborhood," Steve muttered, glancing out the window to look at the streets of Brooklyn we were driving through. He nodded to some of the areas we were passing with a small frown. "I got beat up in that alley... And that parking lot..." He cleared his throat slightly in embarrassment and lowered his gaze to where his hands were knotted tightly in his lap. "And behind that diner."

I internally winced at his words, the image of him being mercilessly beat up by other men who thought they were tough for picking on those weaker than them unconsciously flashing through my mind. I glanced at him after a moment and raised an eyebrow slightly. "You know, most people usually run away from fights they can't win."

He sighed and shook his head. "You start running and they'll never let you stop. You stand up, you push back. They can't say no forever, right?"

"No, they can't," I agreed softly. "I know a little of what it's like, you know. To have every door shut in your face, to have everyone tell you that you're not good enough. I guess we're both here to prove them wrong."

He paused for a moment, raising his eyes from his hands to look at me. "I suppose I just don't know why you'd want to join the army if you were a beautiful dame." His eyes widened in mortification almost immediately after the words had left his mouth. "Or a beau... A woman. An agent. Not a dame," he corrected, a light blush gracing his cheeks when I glanced over at him with a raised brow and a small smirk. "You _are_ beautiful, but..."

"You really have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?" I cut him off with a slight chuckle, feeling bad as he continued to stutter and deciding to save him from further embarrassing himself. I looked out the window for a moment to compose myself—as despite what I had just said, I couldn't ignore the butterflies suddenly swarming in my stomach from his unintentional compliment.

"Before I met you, I think this would have been the longest conversation I'd ever had with one," Steve admitted with an embarrassed smile. "Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on."

"Maybe you've just been asking the wrong women," I murmured softly, furrowing my brow slightly in disbelief. He was such a great guy. Sweet, caring, thoughtful. The type of man who would love someone unconditionally and treat them with the utmost care and respect. A complete _gentleman_. I found it hard to believe that no woman had been interested in him before, not after he had managed to catch my attention so quickly and so completely.

"I haven't asked any," Steve confessed with a small shrug, returning his gaze to his hands on his lap. "Asking a woman to dance always seemed so terrifying. And the past few years... It just didn't seem to matter that much. Figured I'd wait."

"For what?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side curiously as I waited for his answer.

Steve let out a breath and turned to look out the window. "The right partner."

My heart fluttered in my chest at his sincere words, my lips unconsciously tugging up of their own accord as I stared at him for a moment and tried to ignore the butterflies now rampaging in my stomach. I found myself having to turn away to look out the window for a pause, my lips refusing to cooperate as I fought to hide the wide smile that he had put on my face.

I was still fighting to smooth out my features into a neutral expression when we pulled up outside our destination a few minutes later, my grin only growing slightly when Steve opened my car door for me and offered a hand to help me out of the vehicle. The moment my eyes landed on the antiques shop, however, the smile instantly died on my lips and worry twisted deep in my gut as I remembered exactly why we were here. I took Steve's offered hand and allowed him to help me out of the car, straightening out my outfit when I was standing and taking a deep breath to compose myself. I was being silly; the procedure would be fine. _Steve_ would be fine.

I waved Steve off with a small smile when he stepped towards me with a concerned look, gesturing for him to follow me as I started to walk towards the entrance of the unassuming store. Steve silently walked beside me for a moment as he eyed the shop front before he turned to me with a confused frown. "What are we doing here?"

"You'll see soon enough," I murmured, letting out a small chuckle and giving him a grateful smile when he suddenly dived forwards to open the door for me before I had a chance to open it myself. I entered the shop and walked forwards with Steve by my side, pausing when the old lady who ran the shop stepped forwards into view.

"Wonderful weather this morning, isn't it?"

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes and scoffing at the ridiculous password I had been told to give in response. "Yes, but I always carry an umbrella."

The old woman gave me a small smile and walked over to the counter, pressing a hidden button underneath to grant us access as I gestured for Steve to follow me into the back storage room. We both pulled to a stop in front of an unassuming bookcase and Steve shot me a confused look when I just waited there patiently, causing my lips to quirk up slightly at the edges as I motioned for him to watch.

I heard the surprised breath he let out when the bookcase suddenly swung open like a set of double doors, revealing the long corridor and hidden facility behind it. I walked confidently down the corridor with Steve following, heading straight for the double doors at the end where the lab was located. I paused when we reached the end of the hallway and let out a steadying breath as I turned to face Steve.

"Are you ready?" I asked softly, eyeing him with concern.

He hesitated for a split-second and shifted nervously, before he sighed and nodded his head briefly in confirmation. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I studied him for a second longer before nodding my head slightly in response, turning to signal for the two MP's stationed on either side of the doors to open them for us. I briefly reached over and squeezed his hand in silent reassurance as we walked out onto the balcony that overlooked the lab below, hearing him let out a nervous breath when he saw the Vita-Ray machine and the multiple nurses rushing around the makeshift lab. I quickly let go of his hand and straightened, however, when everyone paused in what they were doing and all eyes turned to Steve in curiosity, everyone wanting to see what was so special about the one who had been chosen for the procedure.

"Come on," I murmured to him, gesturing for him to follow me as I turned and made my way down the flight of stairs and walked across the room to join Abe in the center.

"Good morning!" Abe practically chirped as we pulled to a stop in front of him, grinning at Steve and shaking his hand in greeting.

I eyed him with a slight grimace. "How are you so cheery? It's unnatural," I groaned quietly to him, repressing an eye roll when he merely snorted and grinned at me in response. We had stayed up until the early hours of the morning last night, reminiscing and laughing while we drank more than we probably should have. And here he was, smiling like he had never had a better night's sleep, whilst I felt like I'd been hit by a bus.

"Late night?" Peggy questioned in a low voice to me as she appeared by my side, glancing between me and Abe with amusement after she nodded to Steve in greeting.

I grimaced slightly with a small nod. "You have no idea."

"Actually, I do," Peggy snorted with a small smirk as she raised an eyebrow teasingly. "Or have you forgotten that we share a room? What time did you stumble in again? Was it 3:30am? Wait, no, maybe it was 4—"

"Shut up," I muttered, lightly nudging her in the side with my elbow as her and Abe let out low chuckles and Steve tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

At that moment, a bright flash suddenly went off to the side of us, momentarily blinding me as I turned my head in its direction with a small grimace. I blinked rapidly to regain my vision as Abe shifted beside me. "Please. Not now."

The reporter lowered his camera and nodded, giving us a sheepish look before he turned and scurried away. Peggy, Abe and I watched him go for a moment before we noticed Steve looking at the procedure equipment next to us with a suddenly tense expression, causing Abe to step forward in concern.

"Are you ready?" he asked the same question I had done mere minutes ago, the same concern in his tone as he eyed Steve's tense form. Steve nervously nodded his head in response, turning his attention back to us. "Good. Take off your shirt and tie," he paused and pointed to Steve's head, "—And your hat."

Steve glanced over at me with a small blush before hesitantly doing what Abe had asked and unbuttoning his shirt after he'd dutifully removed his hat and tie. I purposely looked away from him whilst he removed the piece of clothing, noticing his embarrassment and not wanting to make him feel any more uncomfortable than he already was. He cleared his throat slightly as he handed the material to the nurse before slowly positioning himself so he was lying flat on the machine.

"Comfortable?" Abe questioned lightly as he moved to Steve's side and watched him shift about nervously.

Steve let out a forced chuckle. "It's a little big," he tried to joke, smiling faintly when I moved over to his other side and instinctively grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. Although, I wasn't certain who I was trying to reassure more—him, or myself.

Steve glanced between the two of us with another faint smile. "You save me any of that Schnapps?"

Abe and I exchanged guilty looks, hiding childish grins as we looked back down at Steve sheepishly. "Not as much as we should have," Abe admitted. "Sorry."

"Next time," I promised Steve softly, squeezing his hand again as he shifted and nervously tightened his grip on my hand when Abe turned to face Howard.

"Mr. Stark? How are your levels?"

"Levels are at 100%," Howard confirmed as he walked over to my side and gave me an affectionate kiss on the cheek in greeting. I grinned at him in response, glancing down at Steve in confusion a second later when his grip stiffened around my hand slightly. I brushed it off as nerves and returned my attention to Howard as he looked over Steve and continued. "We may have to dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we're ready..." Howard paused, before quietly muttering under his breath, "As we'll ever be."

Steve glanced over at us as he caught the last part of Howard's statement, his brows furrowing in worry and slight fear as he let out a shaky breath and shifted uncomfortably whilst the nurses started to strap him into the machine. I elbowed Howard lightly in the ribs, shooting him a look when he whined slightly in response. I jerked my head pointedly in the direction of a nervous Steve.

"You're not helping," I hissed lowly, trying to hide a smile when he shot me a wounded look and clutched at his ribs with a dramatic pout.

"Save that feisty attitude for the bedroom, Annie," he retorted quietly, leaning down to teasingly whisper in my ear. "You know I love it when you get rough."

I rolled my eyes and pushed Howard back a step with my free hand. "Save your womanizing charm for the nurses, Howie," I quipped back lightly, snorting in amusement when, right on cue, he gave a passing female an appreciative glance. I gestured to the machines around us with a raised brow. "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Okay, okay. I'm going." He grinned, raising his hands innocently before he turned and made his way over to a nearby control panel with a wink.

I sighed and turned back to face Steve and Abe, who were conversing quietly with one another about the procedure and thankfully oblivious to mine and Howard's little discussion. Abe turned his attention to me after a moment and nodded his head towards the balcony. "Anna, don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth with Agent Carter?"

I briefly glanced up to the viewing room, wondering when Peggy had disappeared up the stairs, before turning back to Abe with a small shake of my head. "I'd prefer to stay down here, if that's okay with you?"

"Of course." He nodded, that sly smile back on his face as he glanced down at my hand that was still linked with Steve's before he turned to go and speak to Howard for a moment.

I shook my head in exasperation at the doctor as I returned my attention to Steve and gently squeezed his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Steve smiled weakly, "A little nervous."

"That makes two of us," I commented softly, faintly attempting to return his smile. "Everything will be fine though, Steve. Abe knows what he's doing."

He nodded his head jerkily as Abe turned and gestured to us that it was time. I squeezed Steve's hand one last time as I leaned down and lightly pecked him on the cheek, hiding a smile when he blushed slightly in response. "You can do this," I whispered to him in encouragement, once again repeating the words that had become my little saying to him over the past few days, before I pulled back and reluctantly let go of his hand as I turned and made my way over to Howard.

"Don't think I missed that little kiss on the cheek," Howard commented teasingly as I leaned against the control panel beside him, watching him mess around with a few buttons and levers in preparation for the procedure.

I let out a slow breath and tapped my fingers against the edge of the panel nervously, staring worriedly at Steve's small form strapped to the machine before us. "Not now, Howie."

He glanced over at me in surprise, momentarily pausing in what he was doing as he eyed my tense posture and strained expression. "You care for him, don't you?" he asked softly.

I clenched my jaw and sighed. "Just make sure he makes it through this."

Howard reached out and gently hooked his fingers under my chin, turning my head to face him as he gave me an unusually serious look. "He'll be fine, Annie," he murmured lowly in reassurance, softly placing a comforting kiss on my forehead when I offered him a weak smile in thanks.

I jumped as a screeching sound was heard through the room, turning my attention to Abe flicking the microphone in his hands as Howard dropped his hand away from me and turned to watch the announcement beside me. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays."

Abe nodded to the spectators watching closely from the viewing booth before setting down the microphone and making his way over to Steve as a nurse finished setting up the equipment and carefully injected him with a shot. Steve braced himself for the pain, but let out a sigh and relaxed slightly when the nurse pulled the needle out and moved away. He turned to Abe with a small grin. "That wasn't so bad."

"That was penicillin," Abe responded with a sympathetic smile before he turned to the assistants scattered around the room. "Serum infusion beginning in five... four... three... two... one."

Steve's eyes scrunched shut and his jaw clenched in pain as the serum emptied from the vials and injected into his body. I had to avert my gaze and tightly clutch onto the edge of the panel behind me to restrain myself from moving over to him, not being able to bear seeing the silent agony on his face.

"Now, Mr. Stark!" Abe called out to Howard, who nodded and slowly pulled down a red lever.

The machine Steve was strapped to slowly tilted vertically whilst the sides raised and closed over the front, transforming the entire thing into a pod. Some morbid voice at the back of my head cynically whispered that it vaguely resembled a coffin, but I quickly shut the voice up and clenched my hand tighter around the panel behind me as I tensely repeated to myself that he would be fine. I apprehensively watched as a lab assistant hurried to attach an oxygen line so Steve would be able to breathe inside before they stepped back and gestured to Abe that everything was set to proceed.

Abe nodded and stepped up to the pod, tapping lightly on the metal and raising to his toes to peer through the small window on the top half. "Steven? Can you hear me?"

"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Steve's muffled voice responded, causing me to repress a snort of relief at his words—if he was trying to joke right now, then he must be okay.

 _For now._ The cynical voice at the back of my head whispered, causing me to let out a silent growl as I snarled a desperate _shut up_ in response.

Abe smiled and turned to Howard with a nod. "We will proceed."

Howard twirled a dial on the control panel to activate the machine before slipping a pair of darkened glasses over his eyes. He grabbed a spare pair and held them out to me. "Here. Put these on."

I nodded and hesitantly took the protective goggles from his grasp, giving him a weak smile when he briefly squeezed my hand in reassurance before turning back to the control panel in front of him. I slipped the darkened glasses on just in time as Howard reached out and slowly started turning a wheel, activating the Vita-Ray machine and causing a bright white light to start to spill out from the small window of the pod.

"That's ten percent!" Howard announced, closely watching the dial as he continued to steadily turn the wheel. "Twenty percent... Thirty..." Abe and a few of the lab assistants turned away from the rapidly brightening light and shielded their eyes. "That's forty percent!"

One of the scientists on the other side of the room turned to us with a nod. "Vital signs are normal."

"That's fifty percent! Sixty... Seventy..."

I swear my heart momentarily stopped in my chest as Steve started to cry out in agony. I didn't think twice as I leapt forwards and ran towards the pod, pressing my hands against the metal as Steve continued to wordlessly cry out. "Steve? _Steve!"_

"Shut it down!" I desperately called over my shoulder to Howard and Abe, my stomach clenching in fear when Steve let out another heart-wrenching yell. I spun around when the light stayed on and shot Howard a frantic look. "Shut it down, Howie! _Now!"_

Abe didn't hesitate as he twirled to face Howard and frantically nodded his agreement. "Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark."

"NO!" Steve's desperate yell suddenly sounded from behind me. The sound was slightly muffled from the pod, but clear enough to make out what he was saying.

I turned and pressed my hands against the cold metal exterior again. "Steve, are you insane?" I called out incredulously. "There's no way in hell—"

"PLEASE! I CAN DO THIS, ANNA!"

I sighed and briefly rested my forehead against the pod, hating that he had used the words I had been telling him from day one against me. How could I say no when I had constantly reminded him he could do this? Who was I to stand in his way now, when he was so close to what he had fought so hard to achieve?

"You better be right about this, Steve," I quietly whispered under my breath as I straightened. I clenched my jaw and fought against every single instinct in my body screaming for me to get him out of there as I turned and reluctantly gave a forced nod to Howard, telling him to grant Steve his wish and continue with the procedure.

Howard hesitated for a brief second before returning my nod and continuing to turn the wheel. "Eighty... Ninety... That's one hundred percent!"

I quickly backed away from the machine as the white light it emitted turned blinding—even with my protective goggles on—and equipment all around the room started sparking from the huge surge in power, causing everyone standing in the lab to flinch back. The whirring of the Vita-Ray machine grew louder and louder before, with one final series of sparks, the machine went quiet and the blinding light dimmed down into nothing.

There was a beat of silence where no one moved, and then Abe slowly called for Howard to open the pod. I ripped the darkened glasses off my face, uncaringly letting them drop to the floor as I stared intently at the pod with my heart in my throat, hoping with everything in me that Steve was okay. Howard nodded and pulled another lever on the control panel, causing the machine to open with a loud hiss as the pod doors folded back.

I couldn't stop the shocked breath that escaped me as the steam slowly cleared. "Holy shit."

The man that Abe helped out of the Vita-Ray machine looked nothing like the skinny one who had stepped in—he was much taller, standing at around 6'2", instead of his previous 5'4"; he had long, lean legs that trailed up into a slim waist; his bare chest was glistening with sweat, only further exaggerating the solid muscles rippling with every move—and I felt a strange sort of panic start to well up inside of me as I stared at this stranger before me, barely being able to recognize anything about the man I had grown to care for in him.

But then... then my eyes met his beautiful blue irises, noticing the soft glint that appeared in his eyes once he caught sight of me—in a way that was so familiar and just _Steve_ —and I felt the tension slowly start to ease within me as I took note of the things that I had missed at first glance. He had the same straight nose and defined jawline, the same dark blonde hair and full lips, the same prominent cheekbones and strong chin. I unconsciously breathed out a sigh of relief. It was still him, it was still Steve. But as he was always meant to be, rather than plagued by a list of medical conditions longer than my arm.

And it was at that moment that my previous worry hit me again full force and I was suddenly standing in front of him before I realized I had even moved. My hands frantically fluttered over him as I searched for any sign that he was injured or still in any sort of pain, his agonized screams still echoing hauntingly in my ears. I forced myself to ignore the way his solid muscles flexed underneath my hands, as if responding to my light touch, as I checked him over and started shooting questions his way. "Are you okay, Steve? Are you still in any pain? I can go get you—"

"Anna, I'm fine," Steve chuckled, reaching up and placing his hands over mine. The movement unintentionally moved my hands closer to his chest so that my palms were now pressed flat against his warm skin, and I desperately tried to distract myself from the feel of his solid chest by tilting my head back slightly so that I could look up at his face. My eyes searched his for any sign that he was lying to me and still in even the slightest hint of discomfort. I sighed in relief a moment later when I found nothing but honesty in his beautiful azure eyes, swallowing slightly as he sent me a breathtaking smile.

"Light gray," he whispered under his breath. I frowned slightly in confusion, prompting him to explain as a light blush graced his cheeks. "I always thought your eyes were stunning before, but I... I always assumed that they were that shade because of my color-blindness. I... I'm really glad they weren't."

I stood frozen for a moment, completely stunned by his words. My heart stuttered in my chest and butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I stared up at him, truly touched that my eye color had apparently been something that was important to him. Something that he had thought about before, something that had been on his mind enough for it to be the first thing he checked after the serum had just transformed him. I quickly blinked back tears, so completely in awe of this extraordinary man in front of me in that moment.

"How do you feel?" I asked softly after a long pause, reluctantly forcing myself to focus back on the task at hand as the multiple bodies moving around in my peripheral vision reminded me that we definitely were _not_ alone.

"Taller. You have to look up at me now," he murmured quietly to me, a small smile on his face as he kept his eyes locked with mine, his hands still unconsciously covering mine on his chest.

"I've always looked up to you, Steve," I muttered in a low voice, a warm feeling sparking in my chest as his eyes noticeably softened at my words. Before I could realize what I was doing, I had turned my hands over and entwined our fingers together, raising our joined hands to my lips to place a gentle kiss against his warm skin. As I caught sight of the blush suddenly darkening Steve's face, my brain caught up to me and I quickly let go of his hands as if they had burned me, stepping back slightly and clearing my throat in embarrassment as I realized what I had just done.

I awkwardly averted my gaze and shifted as I tried to compose myself. But I wished I hadn't the moment my eyes landed on the nurse who was standing beside us, frozen in place with one of her hands clutching a shirt for Steve as she appreciatively eyed him up and down. I stepped forwards and snatched the shirt out of her hands with a hard glare, causing her to squeak and hurry away as I turned back to Steve and quickly handed him the aforementioned article of clothing.

"I did it," Steve breathed as he gratefully accepted the shirt off of me, a light blush still dusting his cheeks as he cleared his throat slightly and glanced between Abe and I with a smile.

Abe nodded with a grin. "I think we did."

"I told you both you could do it," I commented teasingly, smirking slightly when they both looked my way. "Never doubted either of you for a second."

"Apart from when you were practically trying to tear the pod apart with your bare hands," Howard snarked as he came to stand beside us. I shot him a glare, ignoring his answering wink, and blushed slightly in embarrassment as I purposely avoided Steve's gaze.

I distantly noticed Abe freezing out of the corner of my eye and turned to face him with a small frown. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but I was cut off by the deafening sound of an explosion suddenly blasting out from the empty viewing booth above us, causing screams to echo all around as everyone in the crowd scrambled to get to safety. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Steve's body covering mine as he protectively shielded me from the glass shards that were currently showering down all around us from the explosion.

I quickly pulled away and rose to my feet with a muttered thanks when the glass had finally settled, immediately spotting Abe as he stood and pointed to a man who was grabbing the last vial of the serum. "Stop him!"

I had just started to obligingly lunge towards the man when two gun shots suddenly blasted through the room and I froze in place. Everything seemed to slow and blur around me as I saw Abe's body jerk before he collapsed to the ground, two bullet holes in his chest staining his white lab jacket a dark red with alarming speed. Abe's body had barely hit the floor before I was dropping down to my knees beside him, frantically pressing both of my hands over his wounds as I stared down at him in fear. "Abe? Oh god, Abe. Just hold on. It's going to be alright."

He shook his head. "Believe," he choked out quietly, letting out a ragged breath with a pained grimace.

I knew without asking that he was referring to our conversation last night, that he was telling me to believe in myself. But I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want him to tell me that, not right now. It sounded too much like goodbye—and that wasn't an outcome that I was willing to accept. He was going to make it. He had to.

"No, no. You're going to be fine, Abe. You're going to be fine." I held back the tears that were threatening to fall and applied more pressure to the bullet wounds in his chest, trying to ignore the violent trembling of my hands as his warm blood coated my skin. _Too much. There was too much blood._ "I just need to stop the bleeding and—"

"Anna," he whispered, reaching up a hand to weakly grip my own. "It's okay."

I shook my head. "Don't you dare give up on me, Abe." He wasn't allowed to say goodbye. He wasn't allowed to leave me. "You're going to be fine. I'm going to get you through this." I turned my head slightly and glared at the small crowd gathered around us. "Why are you just _standing_ there? Someone _help!_ He needs to get to a hospital immediately!"

" _Anna,_ " he repeated with a cough, drawing my attention back to him as he shook his head at me and his eyes started to flutter closed. His already weak grip on my hand loosened even further.

"Abe, no. Open your eyes, come on," I softly begged, gently gripping his face with my free hand and trying desperately to ignore the smear of blood it left on his skin. _His blood. There was so much._ "Please. Don't leave me." The words were no more than a choked whisper, inaudible to the others in the room as I leaned over his weakening form.

His eyes fluttered open for a split-second, the barest hint of his usual grin tugging at his lips. "I'll... never leave you, Fräulein." His hand moved to rest over my heart and I covered it with my own, holding it tightly in my grip as he coughed.

"We still have to finish that bottle of Schnapps, remember?" I tried to tease lightheartedly, a half-strangled laugh escaping my throat when he chuckled weakly in response.

"Without me," he breathed quietly, the words seeming to take a huge effort for him to get out. "Special occasion."

I lifted my head ever so slightly when Steve suddenly crouched down next to us and Abe tried to offer him the barest hint of a smile. "Remember," he whispered, pointing his free hand at Steve's chest like he had last night when we were drinking. "Good... Man."

He weakly squeezed my hand with the one that was still linked with mine and his eyes fluttered closed again. "Believe," he repeated to me, squeezing my hand one last time before he let out a final breath and his body went still.

"Abe?" I whispered, not wanting to accept what my eyes were telling me. "Come on, Abe. Wake up," I desperately pleaded with him, gently shaking his unmoving form. I shook him harder and held back a sob when he didn't respond. No flinch. No flutter of his eyelids. No rise and fall of his chest. Nothing.

He was gone.

"Come on, Annie." I distantly registered Howard's voice behind me as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. I numbly allowed him to pull me away, but my horrified gaze never left Abe's unmoving body as he carefully guided me back from the crowd. We had barely made it five steps when a series of gun shots suddenly sounded from the shop above us, causing me to snap out of my pained trance as I remembered the man who had stolen the vial of serum.

The image of him shooting Abe flashed through my mind and the grief inside of me turned into pure, white-hot anger. I tensed, an almost feral snarl leaving my lips. "That son of a bitch."

I didn't think twice as I ripped myself out of Howard's grasp and bolted up the stairs and down the hallway, barely sparing a glance in the direction of the old lady's unmoving body as I dived out of the shop and onto the street before me. I jumped over the two dead agents just outside of the shop and ran out into the middle of the road as a black car accelerated past.

I caught a glimpse of the man who had shot Abe when he sent me a smug look over his shoulder as they raced past, and I felt a deadly rage flow through me as I pulled out the small gun I carried with me. My previously trembling hands were now eerily still as I raised my gun and aimed at the driver, inhaling deeply through my nose before I pulled the trigger. The black car swerved to a stop as my bullet hit the driver straight through the back of the head with deadly accuracy, causing the man who had killed Abe to quickly dive out of the car and commandeer a passing taxi.

I didn't even flinch as the bastard hit the accelerator of his stolen car and started speeding down the road straight towards me. Our eyes locked as he pushed his foot further on the accelerator whilst I cocked my head and aimed my gun at him. I let off two shots, growling under my breath when he ducked sideways and the bullets missed him by barely an inch. The thought of diving out of the way of the car briefly crossed my mind as he smirked and straightened again, the taxi within dangerously close distance to me now. But then my eyes caught sight of the blood still coating my hands and my jaw clenched in anger as I stubbornly stood my ground and aimed at him again.

He was close enough now that I wouldn't miss. I knew it.

I lined my aim up so I was pointing straight at his forehead and had just started to squeeze the trigger when, all of a sudden, a solid body slammed into my side and knocked me out of the way of the car seconds before it would have hit me. A soft groan escaped my lips as my body hit the hard ground, and I cursed under my breath as I looked over to see the bastard I had been trying to kill speeding off down the street.

I growled and turned to face the blonde who had pushed me out of the way in annoyance. "Steve! I had him!"

He shot me an apologetic look before scrambling to his feet and taking off down the road after him with almost inhuman speed, calling a quick "Sorry!" to me over his shoulder.

I sighed and clambered to my feet, slamming my fist against a parked car in anger at losing Abe's killer. I had been so close... _So close..._

"Agent Fahlett. Report." Colonel Phillips' voice suddenly sounded from behind me, his tone lacking its usual edge as he eyed my blood covered form with barely-concealed sympathy. I took a deep breath, smoothing out my features as I turned and gave him a half-hearted salute.

"I shot his accomplice, but the one with the serum got away, sir. Steve's chasing after him now," I reported emotionlessly, nodding my head over to the crashed getaway car further down the street. "I'll go check it out now, sir. There may be some useful information in there."

I nodded respectfully before I turned and started to walk down the street towards the vehicle. I had only taken a few steps, however, when Phillips' voice stopped me. "I can call another agent to do that if you need a moment, Agent Fahlett." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I know how close you were to Dr. Erskine."

I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Thanks, but I'm fine, sir."

XxXxXx

It wasn't until later that night—when I had stumbled into his deserted lab and saw the two empty glasses on the work bench, the half bottle of Schnapps still placed in the middle, everything painfully exact as to how we had left it just last night—that I finally allowed myself to break down. I staggered forwards, tears dripping down my face as I shakily touched the surface of the workbench we had been sat at last night, pain tearing through me as the faint echo of our laughter rang in my ears.

Before I knew what I was doing, my hand grabbed one of the empty glasses on the workbench and a heart-wrenching scream ripped itself out of my throat as I flung it at the wall. I didn't even watch as the glass smashed into tiny shards and flew in every direction, I just turned and grabbed the other glass sat on the surface, throwing it across the room with another raw cry. I didn't want it. I didn't want any of it. I didn't want the reminder of them there. I didn't want the reminder that we would never sit in this lab again and toast to each other with a drink in our hands. I didn't want the reminder that he would _never_ be coming back.

My hands shakily grabbed the last thing on the workbench and I raised my arm to throw it like the others when I paused, my tear-filled eyes catching sight of what it was. I slowly lowered my hand and stared down at it, watching my tears fall onto the smooth surface and slowly roll down the side. It was the bottle of Schnapps. The bottle from Augsburg. One of the last possessions Abe had had of his home.

 _"We still have to finish that bottle of Schnapps, remember?" I tried to tease lightheartedly, a half-strangled laugh escaping my throat when he chuckled weakly in response._

 _"Without me," he breathed quietly, the words seeming to take a huge effort for him to get out. "Special occasion."_

A choked cry left my lips and I clutched the bottle to my chest, slowly falling to my knees as my legs gave out on me and my broken sobs echoed throughout the now hauntingly silent lab. The lab that we had both been laughing and drinking in just last night as we recounted tales to each other. The lab that I had always ran to whenever I needed to escape from the world. The lab that I had had to drag Abe out of more times than I could count when he constantly overworked himself. The lab that held so many fond memories for me, memories that now cut through me as sharp as a knife.

I curled up into a fetal position on the floor, ignoring the broken shards of glass scattered everywhere as I mourned for my friend, for the unfair life that had been stolen from this world too soon. I don't know how long I laid there for—it could have been seconds or it could have been hours—but, eventually, I became aware of faint footsteps echoing throughout the room before a gentle hand landed on my shoulder.

I slowly raised my head and my teary eyes locked with soft blue ones. "He's gone, Evie. He's gone," I whispered hoarsely, causing her eyes to grow glassy as she pulled me into her arms.

"I know. I know," she quietly hushed me, soothingly running one of her hands through my hair as she gently rocked us back and forth for a moment. I clutched the bottle of Schnapps tighter to my chest, unintentionally drawing Peggy's eyes down from my face. Concern tinged her expression as she eyed the blood still covering my hands and clothes. _Abe's blood. Everywhere. It was everywhere._

Peggy gently pulled me to my feet with her as she stood. "Come on, Gracie. Let's get you cleaned up."

And, as I numbly watched Peggy scrub the dried blood off of my hands and arms, the tears slowly dried on my face and a steely resolve started to form inside of me. I would make the people who took him from this world suffer, no matter what. I would avenge his death. Even if it cost me my life, there was one thing I knew for certain:

 _Hydra would fall._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, we've finally reached the transformation! I'm kind of sad as I adore pre-serum Steve and all his awkward charm, but I'm so excited to finally get more into Steve as Captain America. I threw in a cute fluffy scene between Stanna (Aneve? Rolett? Still haven't decided) at the last minute. Hope you guys like it! (:**

 **I have so much lined up for the next few chapters and I'm super excited about it all! Any ideas on what I have planned? ;)**

 **Timeline**

 **Like I mentioned last chapter: In the film Steve had the procedure on June 22nd, but I've pushed it back a day to fit more with the plot line.**

 **Reviews**

 **Thank you to all who favourited and followed this story! Oh, and a massive thank you to all who reviewed last chapter! That was the most reviews I have gotten so far, and it really meant a lot to me that you all took the time to leave me a comment! I love you all. :3**

 _ **infinateconstellations: Thank you! I am loving the fandom so far, everyone literally seems so nice. It's a little bit daunting writing a fic for a fandom that I'm so new to, but I'm literally doing so much research to try and do it justice. :)**_

 _ **Jo: I'll definitely make sure I go see her soon! I'll have to have a look and see when/where she's next performing. And thank you! I am literally so touched that you wrote that. I honestly can't think of a bigger compliment and I feel so honoured that I help encourage you. Yet again your reviews have kept me going, so I have wrote a long chapter specially as a show of gratitude to you. x**_

 _ **SM: I was also unaware of that whole thing until I was doing some research and, by a happy coincidence, I happened to stumble across it! I found it really interesting, so I'm glad you thought so too! Thank you so much for your review and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. (:**_

 _ **TheNamesCocoaPuff: I know, right? I'm glad someone else agrees with me there. He is just adorable pre-serum! I was so sad that we had to say goodbye to him this chapter with the transformation (I've been trying to drag it out for as long as possible, in case it wasn't obvious, haha). And thank you! I'm glad you like Anna. I'm definitely trying to give her a separate plot-line (which will hopefully become more obvious in the next few chapters) and make her an independent character. The scenes in this chapter have brief moments where they're similar, but they should be a rare exception! Again, thank you so much for your review and I hope you like this one too!**_

 _ **JanaDowneyEvans: Hi! It's great to meet someone reading my story from a different country. And don't worry, your English is amazing! I wish I could say the same about my Portuguese (I'm assuming that's your first language?). Love your username, by the way! Robert Downey Jr. is amazing (and Chris Evans, of course). ;) Thank you for taking the time to leave me a review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**_

 _ **—**_

 **Again, let me know how I'm doing, guys! I loved hearing all your feedback last chapter and it really motivated me to get this chapter out, even though I really struggled in parts about what to add in and what to cut. I always respond to each review so if you have any questions or theories about what's coming up then I'd love to hear them!**

 **Until next time! x**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **As always, thank you to my Beta, NeahZoldyck13. You're amazing!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

 ** _June 26th, 1943_**

"Gracie," Peggy uttered in poorly-concealed shock as soon as she caught sight of me approaching. I pretended not to notice the way the two agents she had been talking to shifted uncomfortably and eyed me as if I was going to break at any second, or the way they awkwardly mumbled an excuse before quickly retreating.

I wasn't surprised at their reactions; I hadn't left my room since the events of the procedure three days ago. After everything that had happened... I had just needed some time to myself. Time to properly mourn Abe's death. Time to come to terms with the events that had occurred. It had been hard going about my day like nothing was wrong this morning, but I knew that I couldn't hide myself from the world forever, no matter how appealing the idea sounded.

I cleared my throat, which was slightly hoarse from disuse, and shifted uncomfortably. "Colonel Phillips sent a message saying Senator Brandt was coming today?"

Peggy eyed me worriedly, but nodded in confirmation to my question. "Yes, they haven't arrived yet though."

I paused, briefly scanning the room. "And Steve?" I asked hesitantly when I saw no sign of the blonde amongst the scattered workers.

"He's with the nurse. Phillips requested samples of his blood to see if it was possible to recreate the serum," she murmured, gesturing to a closed door on our right. I nodded and turned to head in the aforementioned direction without another word. "Gracie—"

I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder at her. "I'm fine, Evie. I just... Need to take my mind off of it." I offered her a weak smile, before continuing over to the medical room and quietly slipping inside.

I immediately spotted Steve sitting across the room as a nurse capped a full vial of his blood and placed it on a tray next to multiple other samples, presumably all Steve's. I frowned slightly as she went to pick up another empty vial and cleared my throat. "You think you have enough?" I snapped, causing her to jump and almost drop the tube as she spun around to face me.

I raised an eyebrow when she didn't immediately respond, flicking my gaze pointedly to the mass of glass vials filled with Steve's blood behind her. She blushed and nodded slightly, removing the needle from Steve's arm and hurriedly collecting the samples as I watched with crossed arms.

"Anna," Steve breathed quietly once the nurse had left the room, rising to his feet and taking a hesitant step towards me.

I smiled weakly at him. "Are you okay?"

"You're asking me that?" he chuckled disbelievingly. "I haven't seen you since—" he halted and shifted awkwardly as he changed mid-sentence, "I was worried."

"I'm fine," I repeated the mantra I had been practicing all morning in the mirror, attempting to fix a convincing smile in place. From his slight wince and worried frown, I figured it probably came out more as a grimace. "Seriously, Steve. Don't worry about me," I cut in before he could question me further. "How are _you_ doing though?"

I glanced pointedly at his new body and raised a brow slightly, causing him to sigh as he reluctantly allowed me to change the subject. He glanced down at himself with a small shrug. "I feel... A little different."

I snorted lightly. "That's the understatement of the century."

"It's taking a little getting used to," he admitted with a brief quirk of his lips. The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared though, a serious expression settling on his face as he let out a deep breath and looked at me intently. "Look, I know you don't want to talk about what happened, but... I just want you to know that I know how close the two of you were, and if you ever need someone to talk to..." he trailed off, the rest of his sentence not needing to be spoken aloud. "He was a good man. A _great_ man." He glanced down sadly. "He deserved better than this."

"If it could only work once, I know he'd be proud it was you." I swallowed hard to try and get rid of the sudden lump in my throat, trying hard to block out the fresh wave of pain that hit me from speaking about my dear friend so soon. It killed me to speak about him in the past tense, the knowledge that it was the only way I'd ever be able to speak about him again cutting through me like a sharp blade straight to my heart.

You'd think that after being in my line of work for years that I would be used to death and losing those I cared about. But I wasn't, not even in the slightest, and I didn't think I ever would be.

I cleared my throat when Steve took a worried step towards me, quickly blinking back the moisture in my eyes as I offered him a watery smile. "I sure as hell know I am," I murmured softly.

Steve took another step towards me and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he could when I caught sight of Senator Brandt and Colonel Phillips walking past through the window. "Come on." I gestured for him to follow me as I turned and exited the room, quickly making my way over to where the Senator and Phillips were talking with Howard.

I quietly pulled to a stop beside Peggy when I reached them, Steve silently taking my other side. "What have we got here?" Phillips asked Howard with a nod towards the small submarine-type machine that the HYDRA agent had tried to escape in.

"Speaking modestly—" I couldn't repress the small snort that escaped me at his words, causing Howard to shoot me an amused look before continuing, "I'm the best mechanical engineer in the country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works." He clenched his jaw in frustration. "We're not even close to this technology."

Senator Brandt frowned. "Then who is?"

"HYDRA," I informed him bluntly, refraining from rolling my eyes when he shot me a confused look. Guess someone hadn't been doing their homework.

Phillips caught the confused look on the Senator's face too. "I'm sure you've been reading our briefs," he snarked. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from sniggering when the Senator shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel," Brandt tried to defend himself, eyeing Phillips with poorly-concealed annoyance as the other man raised an unimpressed brow.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason why," I muttered under my breath before raising my voice so the Senator could hear me. "HYDRA is a Nazi deep-science division led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions."

"HYDRA is practically a cult," Peggy elaborated further. "They worship Schmidt. They think he's invincible."

The Senator gave us a look. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Phillips hesitated for a split-second, his eyes briefly flickering towards me. "I spoke to the President this morning. As of today, the SSR is being retasked."

I froze. "What?" I breathed, staring at Phillips in shock. Everything suddenly started to make sense: why Phillips had sent the message this morning, why he had been so persistent that I leave my room and come to the meeting with Senator Brandt today. We were all being reassigned. We were leaving.

"We are taking the fight to HYDRA," he explained, a flash of guilt crossing his face as he took in my stunned expression. "Pack your bags, Fahlett, Carter." He nodded slightly to each of us. "You too, Stark. We're flying to London tonight."

"Sir? If you're going after Schmidt, then I want in."

I numbly copied Phillips and turned to face Steve as he spoke up, still trying to wrap my head around the unexpected information I had just been chucked. "You? You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo," Phillips scoffed dismissively.

Steve frowned slightly in confusion. "The serum worked."

"I asked for an army and all I got was you," Phillips stated with a shake of his head. " _You_ are not enough."

"Sir—" I bristled slightly at Phillips' words, turning to face him in ready defense of Steve. "That's bullshit and you know it. Steve is more than enough," I snapped, taking a small step forwards in outrage.

Phillips merely shot me a look that clearly stated he wasn't going to change his mind before he turned and walked away. I went to go after him, undeterred and ready to argue the case, but I reluctantly halted when Peggy grabbed a hold of my hand and subtly shook her head. "Leave it, Gracie. Now is not the time."

"With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point," Brandt said to Steve with a slight shrug. "I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the _country's_ seen it."

The Senator gestured for his assistant to step forward and hand him the newspaper. I let out a small breath in shock as I saw a picture of Steve featuring across the front page, holding up a Lucky Star Cabs door as a shield.

"The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands," Brandt continued with a wave of his hand. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what else I had missed in the three days I had been absent from the outside world. The Senator stepped forwards and clapped Steve on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab."

I frowned slightly in realization of where Brandt was heading with this when he gave Steve a serious look and asked, "Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"

I sighed as Steve nodded in determination, but refrained myself from interrupting as I knew it was Steve's choice to make. "Sir, that's all I want."

The Senator smiled and shook Steve's hand. "Then congratulations, you just got promoted."

Peggy cleared her throat slightly as we watched Brandt and his assistant hastily leave with a satisfied bounce to their step. "I'll let you say goodbye," she murmured quietly, gently squeezing the hand that she was still holding before she released her grip and followed the Senator out.

I sighed and slowly turned to face Steve with a small frown. "Are you sure you want to go down that road, Steve?" I questioned cautiously. "What Senator Brandt is offering you... It's not quite the battlefield you're thinking of."

He shrugged slightly and let out a sigh. "Whatever it is, it will be better than being a lab rat."

I gave him a sympathetic smile, nodding my head slightly in acceptance whilst my heart tugged sadly at his words. "I'll have a word with Colonel Phillips when we're in England, see if I can get him to change his mind about letting you help. I'm not going to lie to you, I doubt that he will. The man is as stubborn as a damn mule when he wants to be. But I'll try."

"Thank you, Anna, but you don't need to do that. I don't want you to get yourself in trouble just for me," he declined softly. I opened my mouth to argue but he shook his head with a small smile. "You don't need to worry about me, Anna. I'll be fine, I swear."

"If you only knew what you were getting yourself into..." I sighed quietly, before I reluctantly dropped the subject with a nod of my head. "Though of course I know you'll be fine, Steve. I believe in you, remember?"

His lips tugged up at the corners. "How could I forget?" he asked softly, his grin widening when I chuckled lowly in response.

My smile faltered slightly as I glanced at the clock, realizing that I should probably head off if I wanted to be ready to leave on time later. "I suppose I should be going. I still need to pack all of my things before the flight tonight."

"Yeah..." Steve muttered, his face dropping as he nodded his head slightly in understanding. "I guess this is goodbye then."

"I guess it is," I agreed with a sad smile. A memory flitted into my head and I chuckled slightly as I continued. "I'll see you again soon though, Steve. Call it a feeling."

Steve let out a low laugh at the reference to what I had said to him the first time we met at the Expo, his beautiful blue eyes softening slightly. "I'm glad I stumbled across you that day."

I nodded to him with a small, sincere smile playing on my lips. "I'm glad we met too, Steve."

We both stood there and smiled at each other for a brief moment before I mentally said 'sod it' and closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around his neck in a tight hug goodbye. I winced and immediately started to pull away when I felt him freeze at the unexpected action—scared that I had crossed a line and made him uncomfortable—but I was stopped by his arms hesitantly wrapping around my waist seconds later, ever so gently squeezing me back as he slowly returned the hug.

I sighed quietly in relief that I hadn't crossed an unknown boundary between us and relaxed against him, silently revelling in the feeling of security that being wrapped in his strong embrace brought. I let out a breath and gently pressed my forehead against his shoulder after a moment, instinctively sinking into the soothing warmth that seemed to literally radiate off of him in calming waves. I hadn't even realized how cold I had been until I felt his body heat cocoon around me and chase away any remnants of chill that stubbornly remained.

My mind quieted. A feeling of serenity entered my veins. And, as one of his hands raised to softly, hesitantly, stroke through my hair, I felt the writhing mass of pain in my chest briefly dim a little for the first time since Abe died. And for a moment, just for one blissful moment, it was no more than a dull ache in my heart. I briefly squeezed him tighter for a short pause, knowing that I was going to miss him much more than I was willing to admit to myself, before I reluctantly pulled out of his embrace and took a small step back so I could look up at him once more.

"Be careful," I muttered to him quietly, a sad smile once again on my face as I said as close of a goodbye as I could, the emotion suddenly constricting my throat not allowing me to say the actual words.

"You too," he returned with equal quietness, his facial expression reflecting mine as his lips tugged down slightly. I gave him one last smile and nod of my head in farewell before I turned and unwillingly walked away, forcing myself not to look back as I exited the building and reluctantly ended our last conversation with each other for who knows how long.

I breathed in a deep breath of fresh air when I stepped outside, fighting down the inexplicable sadness twisting inside as I closed the door softly behind me. My eyes fluttered shut for the briefest of moments before I took another deep breath and turned, planning to make my way towards my room so I could pack before tonight. I paused mid-turn, however, when my eyes landed on Howard, who was leaning against the wall a few steps away from me. He straightened the moment he saw me and walked over to where I was standing with a muttered "Finally" under his breath.

"Howard?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side in confusion. "You waited for me?"

"Don't look so surprised," he commented sarcastically as he reached me. He winked when I raised an unconvinced brow, giving me a charming smile as he held out his arm to me in an over-exaggerated gentlemanly manner. "My lady."

I eyed him suspiciously as I slipped my hand through his arm and we started to walk in the direction of our rooms. "What are you up to, Howie?"

"I'm wounded that you think so little of me that I can't even do something kind without raising your suspicion." I gave him a look, causing him to sigh and roll his eyes. "I just didn't want my favorite girl to have to mope all by herself because we've just been ordered to leave behind her little super-soldier."

I sent him a half-hearted glare and gently hit his arm. "I am not _moping._ " At least not about that.

"Really? Try telling your face that," Howard instantly quipped back as he softly nudged my side. I winced slightly at the words, the ache in my chest that had been a constant presence for the past few days flaring up slightly as the echo of an explosion and two gun shots rang through my head. But I knew what Howard was trying to do, and I was grateful to him for keeping the conversation lighthearted with our usual bickering instead of bringing up the situation I was trying so hard not to think about.

I needed the distraction right now. I needed the slight bit of normalcy it brought.

"You're impossible," I groaned softly, offering him a weak smile when he glanced down at me. "And he's not _my_ super-soldier, Howie."

He snorted and returned his attention ahead with a grin. "But you want him to be."

"I thought you never tried to understand a woman's mind?" I snarked back, using the words he had told me a million times over the past few years against him.

"I don't." He raised a shoulder in a half-shrug nonchalantly. "But you're something of an open book on occasion."

I gave him a look. "Well, if I'm something of an open book to you, then you should know how close I am to damaging your pretty face right now."

"You'd be torn apart by three and a half million angry women in New York if you did that," he quipped with a roguish grin, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at me.

I shrugged, unperturbed. "I like my odds."

"Come on, let's go get you packed before you actually decide to embark on that little suicide mission of yours," Howard snorted with a roll of his eyes, practically dragging me with him as he continued towards my room. He didn't speak again for a long moment, but when he did, his voice was soft and unusually serious as he gently tightened his arm around my shoulder in silent comfort. "Everything's going to be okay, Annie."

I swallowed through the sudden tightness of my throat and nodded my head slightly, willing myself to believe the words with everything in me. "I hope so, Howie. I really do."

Neither of us could have possibly known how wrong we were in that moment, or the absolute hell that awaited us.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 9th, 1943 - Three months later_**

"Everything's going to be okay, my ass," I scoffed to myself under my breath as I ducked down behind cover and quickly started to reload my gun.

"There's gotta be at least five more other companies out there," Dugan yelled over the loud noise of the battle going on around us as he and Gabe ran over and laid down behind the trench line next to Bucky and I.

"Radio B company, tell them we need cover!" Bucky ordered after a pause, turning to Gabe as he spoke and nodding his head at him slightly.

"That might be tough," Gabe replied with a humorless laugh, pulling out the radio he was carrying with him and showing it to us in explanation. I groaned quietly as my eyes landed on the smoking box that was practically falling to pieces in his hands. There was no way in hell that thing was going to work long enough to get a message across to the others.

"Bucky, behind you!" I quickly yelled out as I noticed the approaching line of German soldiers creeping up on us out of the corner of my eye. I immediately turned and started shooting at them with a deadly accuracy, covering Bucky who currently had his back turned. Dugan quickly reloaded and lifted his Thompson submachine gun at my warning shout to help me hold back the oncoming troops, hitting each of his targets with skilled precision.

Bucky and Gabe had just turned to join us when a sudden explosion went off nearby, causing us all to quickly duck behind the trench line to take cover from the flying debris. Bucky immediately looked over at me when everything had settled moments later, checking me over for any injures. "Are you alright, princess?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes at the nickname he had given me a few weeks into our march after I had suggested we find a river to wash in (or more accurately, how I had teasingly remarked how they "all may be quite content to smell like pigs, but I was not"). I quickly nodded in confirmation to him when he gave me a concerned look at my delayed response. "I'm fine, pretty boy. Don't worry about me."

He nodded briefly whilst giving me one last glance over to double check I was telling the truth, before he returned his attention back to the battle we were currently in the midst of. I sighed at the thought, shaking my head and cursing my unfailing bad luck yet again. I had only been sent out with the 107th Infantry Regiment to gather strategic intelligence, and yet, I had somehow managed to end up on the front-lines of a battle in Azzano. Given, it was entirely my fault that I was here. If I wasn't such a stubborn bitch, well... I frowned slightly as the memory of the conversation that got me into this mess floated through my mind.

—

 _"I just heard the 107th are being assigned to Italy and are under orders to infiltrate a HYDRA base there for information."_

 _"You heard correct." Phillips' blunt reply was his only acknowledgement of my sudden entrance._

 _"I request permission to leave with the 107th, sir," I half-asked, half-demanded as I stared intently at him. Phillips didn't even look surprised at my request as he looked up from where he was studying a map in front of him, but I could see the silent debate in his eyes as he studied me for a moment and considered my proposition._

 _"Permission denied, Agent Fahlett." He shook his head with a grim look on his face, waving his hand at me dismissively as he turned his attention back to the map in front of him._

 _I growled lowly, walking over to the table as I stubbornly argued back. "Colonel Philips, with all due respect, not only am I the most qualified for the job, but I just lost Abe because of those bastards. I won't rest until HYDRA, and every piece of scum that follows it, is dead."_

 _"And that's exactly why I'm hesitating about sending you, Agent Fahlett. I can't let you go when I know you are emotionally compromised. It's a one way ticket to ruining the mission, if not your death," Phillips sighed, looking back up at me as I clenched my fists in frustration._

 _"You know as well as I do that I've been trained to handle my emotions when out in the field. It won't affect me, Colonel. I know when to keep a clear head." When he still didn't look convinced, I snarled slightly, slamming my hands down on the table in front of me. "Find one person that is more motivated than I am—who has equal skills and expertise, who has a similar success rate on missions—and I will stand down without argument, sir."_

 _He sighed, inspecting me closely for a moment. His face gave away nothing about what he was thinking and there was a long, tense pause before he nodded his head slightly. "Prepare to leave with the 107th at 0600, Agent Fahlett."_

—

It had all being going to plan until a message had come through a few days later—when we were halfway to the Italian HYDRA base we had been planning to infiltrate—ordering the 107th to change direction and head to the front-lines of Azzano with immediate effect. Our men over there were rapidly being overwhelmed by German troops and they had urgently needed back up, so our company had had no choice but to instantly change course. We had arrived at Azzano a week ago, where Bucky and I had soon met Dugan and Gabe on the battlefield. The four of us had almost instantly bonded over our joint sense of humor that we all seemed to use as a coping mechanism in battle, keeping our minds off of the horrors surrounding us as much as possible.

"Here they come!" Bucky yelled out to us, snapping me out of my thoughts as he crawled forward and propped his gun on the top of the trench to aim at the next wave of oncoming Germans.

I quickly looked over to check if Dugan was alright when I saw him crouch down out of the corner of my eye, sighing in relief when I noticed he was just picking up his bowler hat which had been knocked off during the explosion. "I hate these guys," he grumbled irritably, dusting off the dirt from the black material.

I snorted slightly in amusement and shook my head at him. "If we survive this, I'm going to write love songs about you and that goddamn hat."

"Why don't we go show those German bastards what happens when you mess with a man's one true love?" Dugan winked and grinned at me whilst lovingly placing the bowler hat back onto his head, letting out a low chuckle when I rolled my eyes at the display.

"It worries me that you're not even joking right now," I teased lightly, shooting him an amused look as we both clambered over to lay down beside Bucky and positioned our guns on the top of the trenches.

"Do I even want to know?" Bucky questioned as he raised an eyebrow at us, a small smile briefly turning up the edges of his lips as he glanced between Dugan and I.

"Those bastards almost damaged something they would've regretted," Dugan growled, gesturing to his bowler hat in explanation at Bucky's confused glance before aiming his gun and shooting with deadly accuracy at the slowly approaching German troops, as if to emphasize his point.

"One day, I'm gonna find a man that loves me as much as Dugan loves that damn hat," I quipped with a teasing smile thrown in Dugan's general direction before I resumed firing at the oncoming enemies.

Bucky snorted in laughter at my comment, calling to me over the loud gunfire surrounding us. "I think I may know a guy."

"Not possible," Dugan muttered in response, briefly sending me a cheeky smirk whilst he ducked down and reloaded his gun.

"Are you trying to say I'm less lovable than a hat?" I questioned with a cocked brow, causing Dugan to look over at me with another smirk. He opened his mouth to respond when Bucky suddenly cut him off before he could say a word.

"What the hell..."

Dugan and I both snapped our heads over to see what Bucky was looking at, only to gasp as blue lights shot across the battlefield from seemingly out of nowhere, hitting the German troops scattered across the field with ease. My eyes widened as I saw the troops that had been hit with the blue light disappear—literally _disappear—_ into nothing. _How was that even possible?_

We all seemed to freeze for a long pause as the few remaining German soldiers turned tail and ran, hesitantly climbing to our feet and taking a few cautious steps forward when there was no sign of the blue lights appearing again. "What the hell _was_ that?"

We instantly stopped in our tracks and tensed when another two beams of blue light suddenly shot out of the darkness and hit the German soldiers that were trying to flee to safety, both of them instantly disappearing in a bright flash of light. All was still for a short pause, none of us daring to move, before our attention was turned to the side as blinding white lights appeared, some sort of high-tech tank rolling out onto the now empty battlefield in front of us.

"That looks... new," Dugan commented dryly as we all warily eyed the new potential threat we were faced with. The tank rolled to a stop and I tensed further, watching it closely for any sign of attack. I didn't have to wait long before the turret gun on top of the tank slowly pivoted in our direction. My eyes widened and I instinctively grabbed a hold of Bucky and Dugan as we all dived back towards the trench for cover.

"DUCK!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So... Small time jump, introduction to a few of the soon-to-be Howling Commandos, Bucky finally making an appearance, small cliffhanger at the end there. I may have gotten a little carried away. ;)**

 **Timeline**

 **Again, I made a small alteration to the dates: I pushed Steve joining the USO back three days (from 23rd June to 26th).**

 **Reviews**

 **Thanks to all who reviewed, favourited and followed! I can't believe we've already hit 70 follows on this story! Again, thank you so much—it really does mean the world to me, guys!**

 _ **Grace Keely: Hi! First off, I really appreciate you taking the time to leave me such a detailed review! They're my absolute favourite and it completely made my day reading it. Second, I'm so glad you liked that scene. I actually found it one of the hardest parts to write, so the fact that you enjoyed it definitely makes me feel so much better. And third, I know, I know. But I couldn't help myself! The eye scene is kind of my guilty pleasure in that chapter, haha. Again, thank you so much for leaving me such a long review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **Kimberley: Aw, thank you, hunn! That's really sweet! *hugs* Hope you enjoy this chapter as well. ;3**_

 _ **Jo: Have I mentioned that I love you, haha? I feel like I should give you an award or a medal or something for leaving me yet another review. It really means the world to me! Ugh, I'm so sorry I made you get teary. Although, I suppose as an aspiring writer, I should take that as a good sign that my work can have that effect, right? Thank you again and hope you like this one. (:**_

 _ **JanaDowneyEvans: I didn't google what the first language was over there or anything. *smiles sheepishly.* I'm not surprised they're both your favourite actors. They're both amazing and definitely two of my favourites too. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well! :)**_

 _ **—**_

 **Anyone have any ideas for what I have planned? Let me know your thoughts and/or theories!**

 **Until next time! x**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Thank you to my Beta,** **NeahZoldyck13, for being awesome.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

 ** _October 11th, 1943_**

"I think we have pneumonia, Anna," Bucky sighed, leaning weakly against the barred door of our cell that he had just been inspecting as a series of rattling coughs shook him.

"Well, aren't you more than just a pretty face?" I tiredly quipped, the sarcasm in my voice obvious as I stumbled to the back of the shared cell we had been shoved into and slumped against the metal bars, letting out a soft grunt as I unceremoniously slid down to the ground.

Dugan tried to hide his laugh at my words by coughing slightly, but only resulted in sounding like he was choking on his own spit. He eventually managed to calm down enough to speak. "Oh, I love it when you get feisty. Reminds me of a few of my favorite girls back home," he winked. "That spunk always made things more interesting, especially during certain _activities—_ "

"That is no way to talk to a lady!" the British guy—who had introduced himself as Falsworth, if I remembered correctly—snapped at Dugan, his body tensing as he shot a disgusted look towards the other man for his poor manners. I just shook my head, briefly wondering how this English guy would react if he ever met Howard, especially as he clearly thought Dugan was bad. I quickly brushed the thought off, however, as I silently concluded he'd probably have an aneurysm or something of the sort.

"Oh, shove your British propriety up your pale little ass," Dugan immediately snarled in response, gesturing with his hands to emphasize his point. I snorted quietly in amusement at Dugan's usual quick temper, but didn't bother to try and join in the argument as I tiredly rested my head against the metal bars behind me.

" _De quoi parlent-ils?_ " the Frenchman, Jacques Dernier, questioned in confusion.

" _Choses stupides,_ " Gabe, being the only other French-speaking person in the room, replied to Dernier with an exasperated shake of his head.

"Oh, this is just great. We have the bastard French in here too? As if the English guy wasn't enough," Dugan mocked, shooting a glare at Dernier as he spoke. I rolled my eyes, wondering how Dugan had somehow missed that during our brief introductions to each other previously. Bucky sighed and loped over to my side, tiredly flopping down beside me and leaning back against the cell bars as we watched the arguing men practically try to tear each others throats out.

" _Me?_ What about you Americans? You _alone_ would be far too much—" Falsworth shot a pointed glare here at Dugan, "But there are three more of you arrogant idiots that I also have to put up with."

"Hey! Don't bring Anna into this!" Bucky immediately snapped when Falsworth eyed Jones, Bucky and I after he had finished speaking. I looked over at Bucky, feeling a surge of gratitude towards him for his quick, although needless, defense of me. I opened my mouth to tell him that it was okay, but Falsworth unintentionally cut me off before I could say a word.

"At least there is one person in here who knows how to properly treat a lady," Falsworth muttered, shooting Dugan another pointed look before he turned his gaze to me and tipped his head slightly in apology. "I apologize, Miss Fahlett. It was rude of me to speak of you in such a way."

I felt annoyance twinge inside of me at the biased treatment simply because of my gender, but, before I could say anything, I suddenly hunched over as a series of heaving coughs tore through me. Bucky's hand was immediately on my back as he tried to soothe me, whispering to me quietly as I continued to cough harshly.

I stayed hunched over for a pause once they had finally died down, fighting to catch my breath as I panted in short, shallow gasps. Bucky's hand continued to rub my back comfortingly as I gradually managed to start breathing normally again, slowly raising my head to look at the others tiredly. I blinked, noticing that they seemed slightly closer to Bucky and I than they had been before, as if they had taken a step forward during my fit, but I quickly shook the thought off, knowing that I was probably just imagining things.

"You two look like shit," Dugan commented, his tone blunt as he glanced between Bucky and I. A small smile twitched at my lips when I caught sight of the tiny flash of concern in his eyes as he spoke, but I chose not to comment on it in front of the others, knowing that he would likely just flat-out deny it.

"Hear that, pretty boy? Not everyone thinks you look perfect," I teased weakly, glancing back over to Bucky with a cocked eyebrow and a wide grin on my face.

"Not when I'm sat next to your beauty, they don't," Bucky quipped back with a playful wink, not missing a beat. I snorted and shook my head, gently nudging his shoulder with my own.

"You can be a smooth one sometimes, Jimmy-boy," Dugan whistled with a smirk, chuckling when Bucky's head snapped towards him with an annoyed glare on his face.

"Don't call me Jimmy," he grumbled lowly, his face scrunching up slightly in distaste at the nickname that Dugan had decided to start calling him ever since he found out his name was James, and not Bucky, a few days ago.

"He prefers pretty boy," I chirped teasingly, letting out a chuckle when Bucky's head thumped back against the bars behind us and he groaned, shaking his head to himself.

Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth all laughed at our little display—Dernier just looking confused as he glanced between us, obviously not fluent enough in English to understand what we were talking about—before they abruptly stopped, realizing that they had almost been getting on for a moment, and turned to glare at each other again. I sighed, a small smile dancing across my face as I watched the three. We may have been captured by HYDRA and who knows what hell lay ahead of us, but at least I knew that I would never be bored as long as these idiots were around.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 12th, 1943_**

 _"Cheval."_

I weakly tried to stifle my soft laugh when Dernier snorted and shook his head like a horse in explanation, gently hitting Bucky's leg with my hand when I felt his body vibrate slightly with laughter underneath me.

I was currently splayed out across the floor next to where Dernier sat, my head resting tiredly on Bucky's lap as he leaned back against the cell bars behind us and listened with amusement to Dernier attempting to teach me some French. I would have been surprised that the Frenchman hadn't given up on my slow progress yet, but I had a nagging feeling that he was doing it more to distract me from the fact that I'd just spent an hour heaving over a battered, dented bucket than for his own amusement.

I blinked tiredly and tried to ignore the throbbing headache forming behind my eyes. "So... That means donkey, right?" I questioned innocently, hiding a small smile as I imitated a pair of big ears with my hands.

Dernier shot me an exasperated look and shook his head. _"Non,"_ he sighed. He made a _clip-clop_ sound as he moved his hands, before letting out a surprisingly accurate _neigh_ as he shook his head like a horse again. I slapped my hand over my mouth when I accidentally let out an amused snort, widening my eyes innocently when the Frenchman froze and shot me a look as he figured out what I had been doing.

 _"Je suis désolée...?"_ I attempted to apologize in French, smiling slightly when he gave me a small nod and proud smile in response, dropping his accusing glare from my previous actions. "Horse. _Cheval._ "

 _"Oui."_ Dernier nodded approvingly before moving his hands to pretend to drink something. " _Boisson._ "

"We're screwed." I heard Falsworth sigh to himself a few feet away, letting his hands drop away from where he had been trying, and evidently failing, to pick the lock to our cell open.

Dugan tipped his bowler hat back slightly from where he had it covering his face (he had slumped down in the corner of the cell about an hour ago for a nap) and raised a brow. "Are all Brits this depressing or is it just you?"

Falsworth spun around and shot him a glare. "Oh, I'm sorry if I'm not the epitome of happiness right now. But, in case you didn't notice, we've been captured by the damn enemy—"

Dugan rolled his eyes as Falsworth continued his rant. "Someone get the man some tea and scones to shut him up."

I winced as the raised voices caused my head to throb painfully, and tried uselessly to zone out the arguing behind me as I concentrated on Dernier and rolled the word around in my mouth. " _Boisson."_ I sluggishly made a drinking gesture with my hands. "That means drink?"

Dernier nodded slightly with a smile. " _Oui. Boisson."_ He pretended to raise a cup to his lips.

"Tea and scones? _Tea and scones?"_ Falsworth snapped loudly, dragging my unwilling attention back to the argument. I flinched at the volume and closed my eyes as my brain throbbed harder against my skull. "We're rotting in a cell in a HYDRA base, with no escape, and you're _still_ acting like an ignorant American asshole—"

"Come on, guys. This really isn't helping anything," Bucky spoke up, trying to defuse the situation as he ran a soothing hand through my hair. He sighed and rolled his eyes when Falsworth ignored him and continued ranting at Dugan.

"You need to sort out your goddamn priorities. If we all could just work together—"

"Then what? Do you think if we all join hands and sing Kumbaya then HYDRA will magically have a change of heart and let us all go?"

Dernier glanced over at the two men with a small sigh before turning back to me with a shake of his head. " _Vous anglais et américains..._ " he muttered under his breath, unheard by our cellmates as they continued their heated argument.

Falsworth huffed and narrowed his eyes at Dugan. "Of course not! But we have a better chance of escaping if—"

"Hey, maybe they'll even give us a lift back to camp, you know, if we bat our eyelashes and ask extra nicely—"

Falsworth let out a yell and threw his hands up in the air. "You're impossible."

Dugan's eyes gleamed as he shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't blame me for pointing out the gaping flaws in your plan—"

I grimaced and let out a low breath. I took it back; these idiots were going to be the death of me.

"I swear to god, if you guys don't give it a rest for just _five minutes_ , then I'm going to gouge my own ears off so I don't have to continue to listen to your incessant screeching," I finally snapped, my nostrils flaring slightly in anger. I slowly raised a hand to tiredly rub at my temples in an attempt to try and ease the relentless pounding behind my eyes.

Silence. A pause. Five sets of eyes swiveled in my direction.

Gabe cleared his throat. "You know, technically speaking, gouging your ears off wouldn't necessarily make you go deaf—"

I shot him a threatening glare and he immediately shut up, raising his hands before him in the universal sign of surrender.

Bucky let out a low whistle and chuckled. "I'm going to have to agree with Dugan. I love it when you get feisty, princess."

" _Men,_ " I huffed under my breath. "You're impossible. You're all bloody impossible."

XxXxXx

 ** _October 14th, 1943_**

"Eat," Bucky demanded, nudging my portion of food closer to me when I made no move to comply. "Come on, princess. One bite. Just one more bite."

I opened one eye and squinted slightly at him. "That's what you said the last four times."

Bucky grinned sheepishly and held up a spoon to me. "I promise this is the last time. Just one more."

"Piss off, pretty boy," I groaned, sliding my one open eye shut again as I shifted slightly and tried to drift off again.

I was tired. So, so tired. My whole body ached from the grueling workload we had been forced to complete earlier and I felt sapped of any and all energy I usually possessed. I felt drained; mentally, physically, emotionally drained. I didn't know why I was being affected so much. My physical fitness was more than adequate. And, while it was normal to feel tired after the long day we'd been forced through, I didn't just feel tired. I felt _exhausted._ So completely and utterly exhausted on a level I'd never felt before. But, right now, I didn't care about the reason behind why I was like this. Right now, I didn't care about anything apart from simply being able to go back to sleep.

"Please, princess?" Bucky persisted, lightly tapping my cheek with his hand to keep me awake. I groaned in protest and tried to swat his hand away to no avail. "One more bite and I promise I'll let you go back to sleep."

"Our friendship is over," I muttered grumpily as I reluctantly reopened my eyes and childishly opened my mouth. He grinned, quickly depositing the spoonful of food into my mouth before I changed my mind.

I slowly chewed the bland tasting mush with a grimace, eyeing the food still piled abnormally high in my tin. I frowned slightly in thought and tried to blink back the migraine once again forming at the back of my skull. "Why do I have more rations than normal?"

"You don't—"

"Delirium could be a side effect from the illness—"

"We just had bigger rations today—"

I raised an eyebrow as the cacophony of defensive voices sounded throughout the cell and blinked tiredly. I ignored Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth as they all stopped and exchanged a look with each other, instead flicking my gaze to Bucky for an explanation. He shrugged noncommittally and quickly raised another spoonful of food in a poor attempt to distract me.

I let the subject drop when my head throbbed painfully once more, not having the energy to extract the truth from them—the sound of the others starting to bicker amongst themselves in the background only reinforcing that thought.

"Open," Bucky coaxed, holding the spoon up to my face.

I glared slightly and refused. "You know, I can feed myself," I grumbled softly. "And I knew you wouldn't keep your word."

"Last one. Promise."

I looked at him tiredly. "I told you, I'm not hungry." And I really wasn't. My appetite had completely disappeared over the past twenty-four hours. And the food we were given here certainly wasn't helping to change that.

"And I told you that you need to eat."

I groaned. "Bucky—"

"You need to keep your strength up," he interrupted, shaking his head slightly. "You need to _eat._ "

My eyes flickered down to his own portion of food sat beside him and my brows furrowed slightly when I saw that it was barely touched.

"Don't be a hypocrite, pretty boy," I murmured, returning my gaze to Bucky as I nodded my head pointedly in its direction.

His eyes flickered over to his own barely touched rations and he grimaced, turning back to me with a faint frown. The movement caused the dim light in the room to reflect off of his face and I suddenly noticed how tired he looked. Dark circles were starting to become prominent under his eyes, his skin had lost the healthy hue it used to possess and was now washed out to a sickly white, and, as he shifted, I noticed the slight sheen of sweat across his forehead and the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

I blinked slowly at him. "You look like shit."

"I'd wager you look worse," he returned with a slight smile. He let his hand hover for a second longer before he dropped the heaped spoonful back into my tin with a sigh. Both of us grimaced at the resulting plop it made as it sank down into the lumpy, tasteless gloop they passed as food here.

"Four dollars?"

He chuckled and nodded his head. "You're on."

"Dugan! Gabe! Get over here!" I called, barely needing to raise my voice to be heard by the others in the small enclosed space. The two in question almost immediately appeared by our sides, glancing down at me worriedly.

I waved off their concern and gestured between Bucky and myself. "Who looks worse? And don't be biased, otherwise I'm taking the wager from your own money."

Dugan and Gabe exchanged a look, barely even having to glance in Bucky's direction before they nodded their heads at me. "You."

"Assholes," I hissed lowly, letting my head thump back onto the ground in frustration as I heard Bucky making a small noise of victory.

"Don't be a sore loser, princess. It's not your fault I was born this pretty," he practically chirped, his eyes shining with triumph as he peered down at where I was ungracefully led on the floor.

I snorted lightly. "The fact that you refer to yourself as 'pretty' concerns me."

"Whoa, whoa," Dugan cut in, waving his hands. "If we're going off of looks, then I'm changing my answer." He smirked over at Bucky when the Sergeant shot him an offended look.

"I concur," Gabe nodded in agreement, a small smirk of his own lighting up his face as he watched Bucky's face. "You should have kept your mouth shut, Sarge. Anna wins."

Bucky rolled his eyes at the two. "Of course you'd pick the _woman's_ side."

I shook my head the tiniest amount with a weak grin. "They promised they wouldn't be biased."

"If they weren't being biased, then they'd both admit that you look like a wreck right now," Bucky argued playfully with a wink in my direction. "Pneumonia doesn't suit you, Anna."

"If we're going off of illness—" Gabe started, only to shut up when I shot him a dirty look.

Bucky pounced on the change of answer though, sending me a teasing grin. "I believe you owe me four dollars, princess."

" _Americans,_ " Falsworth sighed under his breath as he shook his head, watching us with a mixture of amusement and exasperation from the other side of our small cell.

I smiled slightly, my eyes briefly fluttering shut before I forced my heavy eyelids back again to give Bucky a serious look. "You need to eat too, you know," I told him, pointedly jerking my head to his tin.

I narrowed my eyes when he made no move to do so. "Bloody hypocrite," I muttered grumpily under my breath.

I knew he'd overheard me when he shot me a look, before picking up his tin with a reluctant sigh. He scooped some of the disgusting gloop up onto his spoon and slowly raised it to his mouth. He paused when it was an inch away and crinkled his nose slightly in disgust. He started to lower the spoon back down, until he caught sight of my glare and quickly deposited the spoonful into his mouth, grimacing as he swallowed the vile substance.

"Just one more," I mocked lowly, giving him a wicked smile when he shot me a glare and reluctantly did so. I forced myself to keep watch while he consumed a few more bites, only allowing my tired eyes to finally slide closed again once I was satisfied he had eaten enough. I was unconscious again the moment my eyes shut.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 16, 1943_**

"Move it, scum! No slacking! You're only half-way through your quota for the day!"

One of the supervising guards yelled out as he paced up and down the length of the large warehouse we were currently being forced to work in, glaring at anyone who dared falter in their pace or stop to catch their breath. I sighed quietly to myself, rapidly blinking in an attempt to clear my vision and snap out of the mental haze I was currently in. It was no use though; the room continued to tilt around me sickeningly and my head continued to pound harshly behind my eyes. Was my skull literally trying to split itself in half? It sure as hell felt like it.

I reached up a trembling hand to wipe away the beads of sweat gathered on my forehead, trying hard to ignore how clammy my skin felt beneath my cold hand. I sluggishly bent to retrieve more missile shells from the pile before me, but soon paused when the movement caused a series of rattling coughs to rip through me. I spat out a glob of mucus after I'd finally calmed—that was much more dark red in colour than I'd like to admit—before I staggered through the now familiar routine of transporting the shells across to the other side of the warehouse.

The past few days had been complete and utter hell. My cellmates and I, along with every other prisoner of war trapped in this damn place, were roughly woken up at the crack of dawn and worked through to the dead of night every day to complete our 'production quota'. We were then shoved back into our cells, with some measly food rations, for a few hours sleep before repeating the whole process over again. The first few days had been hard enough, but Bucky and I had been struggling badly to keep up with the grueling workload over the past two days as our condition progressively worsened.

I was jolted back to the present when my foot caught on something and I stumbled, the shells I had been carrying loudly clattering to the floor around me as I automatically flung my arms out in a useless attempt to steady myself. In my peripheral vision, I vaguely caught sight of Bucky's form lunging towards me. He somehow managed to grab a hold of my arm just as I was beginning to tip forwards, trying desperately to steady us both. Time seemed to slow for a moment as we both wobbled precariously, before we lost the impossible battle against gravity and fell sideways, Bucky's body too weak to support my weight in his feverish state. We accidentally crashed into something as we fell before we both hit the floor with a harsh thud and muffled groans.

"You're going to regret doing that."

I took in a ragged breath, blearily opening my eyes and looking up at the sound of the enraged snarl, only to flinch back slightly in dread when my blurred vision landed on the tense form of Colonel Lohmer. I realized with sickening horror that he had been the thing we had accidentally crashed into in our fall. Dread coiled deep in my stomach and I instantly knew we were screwed. Out of all the guards in here, Lohmer had quickly proven himself to be the most vicious and volatile in his treatment towards all the POWs. Every prisoner in here thanked every deity they could think of whenever Lohmer wasn't on shift for the day. And, when he was, we all made damn sure to keep our heads down to try and avoid his wrath. My clammy hand automatically latched onto Bucky's, who was still led beside me, as I saw Lohmer's eyes darken whilst he stared down at us, a dangerous gleam entering his eye as his gaze briefly flickered to something on the floor next to him.

Movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to turn my head and squint slightly, trying hard to focus my vision on the blur of colors and shapes laid before me. I managed to make out Dugan's form a few seconds later as he dropped what he was doing and started to stalk his way over to us, his eyes enraged as he caught sight of what was going on. I sluggishly shook my head at him as he took another step forward and just about made out his low growl as he reluctantly drew to a stop at my silent plea.

"All workers immediately make their way to Warehouse D3 to finish the production quota for the day!" Lieutenant Kleiber, one of the nicer officers in this place, reluctantly ordered once he caught sight of what was going on. He sighed and warily signaled for the guards scattered around the room to quickly herd all of the prisoners out of the warehouse we were currently in. I vaguely made out Dugan struggling slightly as two guards grabbed a hold of his arms and started forcing him forward when he didn't immediately follow the order and leave with the others, but my attention was quickly drawn back to Lohmer as I heard him moving closer.

I winced slightly as I turned my head, watching Lohmer's form as he bent down and picked up one of the shells I had accidentally dropped during my fall. I didn't need to be able to see the look on his face to realize what he was planning on doing and I tugged Bucky's hand urgently, horror filling me as I tried to force my body to scramble back. It was no use though; the fall had taken whatever last shred of strength had been keeping me on my feet the last few days. I barely made it an inch before I had to stop for breath and my exhausted body slumped limply back to the ground. I was too weak to run. Or to fight back, for that matter. I could tell Bucky was the same way when he stopped trying to move back beside me, hearing his short pants as he tried, and failed, to catch his breath.

I knew we were screwed the moment the blurry figure of Lohmer straightened and took a step towards us, the fuzzy outline of the missile shell held by his side causing me to flinch and take in a deep breath in preparation. I winced when the movement caused a sharp, stabbing pain to flare up in my chest and closed my eyes. My clammy hold tightened around Bucky's burning hot hand as Lohmer reached our side and towered over us, raising the missile shell he held in his hands up next to his head like a baseball bat before swinging it down towards us.

XxXxXx

The slamming of a fist against metal and a series of enraged cries, coming from a group of voices that sounded oddly familiar, slowly started to register in my mind alongside the faint jangling of keys and retreating footsteps. I blinked blearily and let out a soft groan, my senses slowly returning to me as I came to. But the moment they did, I wished they hadn't.

It hurt. Everything hurt. My head pounded viciously. My entire body ached through to my bones. My stomach was twisting nauseatingly. There was a crackling sound in my lungs with every shallow breath I took— I frowned. _That was new._ The faint crackling sounded again as I painfully drew in another shallow breath and I groggily forced my eyes open, deciding I didn't want to dwell on the new development in my health. Somehow, I doubted it pertained to anything even _remotely_ good.

The room swam above me in a blur of distorted colors and shapes. I blinked a few more times to try and focus my vision, only for a face to suddenly loom over me just as I managed to accomplish the small feat.

"Jesus," I cursed, flinching back slightly in shock.

"Afraid not," Dugan smirked. "Just me. Although, I can see how you came to that conclusion. Wouldn't be the first time I've heard it fall from a girl's lips, but it's usually under _much_ different circumstances—"

" _Dugan,_ " Falsworth snapped from somewhere else in the cell as Gabe suddenly appeared on my other side. The scandalized tone was easily heard in the Brit's voice and his low scoff echoed loudly in the otherwise silent cell when Dugan merely shot him a gleeful smirk in response.

"What's up, Falsworth? Never got a girl to say that in bed?"

"Do you have no honor? No decency? It's despicable. _You're_ despicable. I can't believe—"

"It's quite understandable really. I hear the whole 'stick up your ass' British propriety thing is a real turn off between the sheets—"

"Absolutely no manners whatsoever—"

"Maybe you should cut loose once in a while. Go rogue. The chicks dig it—"

"Disrespectful, vulgar, son of a—"

"Although, I understand your looks must be a real hindrance in—"

"GUYS!" Gabe yelled irritably as he momentarily stopped examining me to glare at the two bickering men. "Would you just—" He waved his hand exasperatedly and flicked his eyes pointedly down at me and somewhere just to my left, causing the two to instantly quiet with apologetic looks on their faces. I frowned and rolled my head over so I could see what was there, only to wince when I saw Bucky's bruised and battered form led next to me. Dernier sent me a sympathetic glance from where he was quietly examining Bucky's injuries, but a frown soon fell over his face as he lightly prodded a spot on Bucky's ribs.

 _"Jones, je pense que quelque chose pourrait être brisé..."_

I clenched my jaw—only able to vaguely understand a few words that Dernier was saying, but not liking his tone one bit—and attempted to move closer to Bucky. I let out an agonized hiss as I tried unsuccessfully to lift my limbs, raggedly panting from the fresh wave of pain the attempted movement had caused. My whole body felt as though a million weights had been tied to every inch of me and my muscles screamed in protest as I slumped dejectedly back to the floor. My eyes automatically slid shut for a moment as the world tilted sickeningly around me once again.

Gabe was instantly by my side again with a worried look fixed on his face. "Don't try to move, Anna. You could make any injuries you have worse. I'm going to need to check you over, okay?"

Gabe hesitated mid-crouch, his eyes flickering between Bucky and I with uncertainty. I tried to raise a hand to wave him off, but let the limb drop limply back to the floor when I found it hurt too much to move it. "M'fine," I muttered, attempting to give him a weak smile to quiet his internal dilemma. "Bucky first."

His eyes searched me for a moment longer, before he nodded and gestured for someone behind him. "Dugan, keep an eye on Anna while I check Bucky over."

Dugan was instantly by my side again as Gabe knelt down next to Bucky to examine him. Bucky groaned softly a moment later, his eyes moving under his eyelids when Gabe lightly prodded his ribs where Dernier had previously. My hand instinctively found Bucky's when he let out another groan of pain, uselessly trying to offer some form of comfort. The corners of my lips tugged up ever so slightly when he gently squeezed my hand in response.

"Thank you," I suddenly murmured to Dugan as he carefully stroked my damp hair back off of my forehead. He gave me a questioning look so I clarified. "For the rations the other day. I know you all gave Bucky and I some from yours." Dugan opened his mouth to no doubt deny their involvement, but I merely smiled weakly at him and moved my free hand to squeeze his. " _Thank you,"_ I repeated softly.

He let out a small sigh and nodded slightly, squeezing my hand back gently as he continued to stroke back my hair. "The food tastes like shit here anyway," he grumbled.

My lips tugged up slightly and my eyelids drooped with exhaustion. "Amen to that."

Bucky's hoarse voice quietly muttering my name had my unfocused gaze sluggishly moving in his direction; the urgent tug of sleep momentarily fading away as I shoved the exhaustion to the back of my mind and concentrated as much as I could on him. His eyes were still tightly closed and he winced harshly as Gabe's hands lightly probed another section of his ribs, before Gabe muttered something under his breath with a frown and started examining another part of him.

I shivered slightly, a strange chill seeping straight through me and settling deep within my bones. "You shouldn't have done that," I managed to choke out, blinking rapidly every now and again as the world blurred in and out of focus around me. I knew I didn't have to elaborate, knew that he would understand I was talking about him covering my body with his and protecting me from the brunt of the beating earlier.

"Well, I couldn't let you get hurt now, could I, princess?" Bucky breathed, keeping his eyes closed as his head tilted ever so slightly in my direction, as if he thought that it would hurt too much to open them. I started to weakly chuckle in relief at the faint glimmer of his usual teasing tone, but I was abruptly cut off by a nasty coughing fit that shook my whole body and caused the harsh stabbing pains to reappear in my chest with a vengeance.

I grimaced and spat out the bloody mucus I had choked up into a small tub Dugan had hurriedly placed near me, limply dropping my head back to the ground once I was done as I attempted to catch my breath again. I vaguely noticed that Bucky's eyes had opened a sliver in worry as he heard me, causing me to tiredly try and give him a reassuring smile that probably came out in more of a pained grimace.

"But now you've—" I let out a small grunt as I tried to shift my weight slightly, the hard concrete digging into my hip, "—damaged your pretty face."

Bucky let out a small chuckle at my words, which quickly turned into a pained hiss as his free hand shakily raised to hover over his ribs. I winced and tried to move closer to him, but my body refused to cooperate. My muscles merely screamed in protest as they twitched slightly, but refused to move any further. I weakly flopped back down to the ground with a groan and resorted to just squeezing his hand in comfort instead.

Gabe finally stopped examining Bucky and leaned back with an unreadable look on his face—or maybe it was just my blurred vision that was making it unreadable, I couldn't be sure. "Two of your ribs are broken, but luckily the rest just seems to be severe bruising," Gabe announced solemnly, his brow furrowing slightly as he spoke.

My heavy eyelids instantly slid shut at the words and relief washed through me, briefly blocking out the pain as I finally allowed myself to give into the pure exhaustion weighing down on me, no longer able to resist the insistent pull of sleep now that I knew Bucky was going to survive the night. I shivered violently once again as I tried to get comfortable, the cold air of our cell pressing against my clammy skin and chilling me to my core.

Just as I started to drift off, a coat was suddenly draped over my trembling body, causing me to groan as I woke again slightly and blearily opened my eye a minuscule amount to see who was there. I just about made out the vague shape of Falsworth as he gently tucked his coat around my battered body and, even as my body instinctively snuggled into the warmth still radiating off the jacket from where he had just been wearing it moments ago, I incoherently mumbled some form of protest. The last thing I wanted was for him to get cold in this godforsaken cell because of me. He just shushed me in response and continued to tuck me in, muttering that he'd be fine.

"You're burning up, Anna," Falsworth softly murmured to me, gently resting the back of his hand against my clammy forehead with a concerned frown. _Was I? How was that possible when I felt so cold?_

I shrugged the question off as the relentless pounding in my head forced my eyes to slide shut again, murmuring a quiet thanks to him as I snuggled further into the jacket now wrapped around my form. I had just started to drift off again when I distantly heard the others talking in low voices nearby, obviously assuming that Bucky and I had both fallen asleep. My incessant curiosity caused me to reluctantly force myself to remain awake just a little longer, much to the protest of my body, to see what they were talking about.

"How bad is it?" Dugan's concerned voice muttered first, sounding as though he was sitting on the other side of the cell from the low volume.

There was a long pause and a deep sigh before Gabe answered, "Given Anna's high fever and rapidly worsening condition, she's starting to go into the fatal stages of pneumonia. And Barnes... His illness seems to be developing at a much slower rate, but it won't be long until he's the same. Add into that their contusions and Barnes' broken ribs..."

"I think I know where this is going, but I'd prefer you say it..." Falsworth joined in.

Dernier tried to speak, probably wanting Gabe to translate what was being said for him, but was cut off before he could get so much as a word out by Dugan muttering a quiet "Shh, Frenchie" to him.

"They won't survive tomorrow if they're forced to work," Gabe finally uttered and I could practically feel the worried look he shot our way. I internally flinched at the words, trying desperately to fight off the darkness that was dragging me into unconsciousness for just a little longer so I could hear the rest of the conversation.

"You know _Lohmer_ won't let them off," Dugan spat, practically snarling the name in anger. I knew from the dangerous tone in his voice that he was remembering the incident earlier.

"He'll force them to work until they're dead," Gabe agreed in a low voice, his tone solemn as he sighed in frustration.

"Maybe not," Falsworth quietly muttered, presumably to himself from the almost unnoticeable volume of the words.

"What?" Gabe questioned quietly in confusion.

There was a long pause of silence that followed—Falsworth no doubt thinking before he spoke as he so often did when he was figuring something out—in which I finally lost the fight against the insistent pull of sleep and drifted off into unconsciousness. The last thing that I heard before the darkness fully claimed me was Falsworth's quiet voice muttering, "I think I have a plan, but I'll need the respective expertise of all three of you to pull it off..."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the slight (okay, pretty long) delay in getting this chapter out. I've had an absolute nightmare of a time trying to get it right—I've scrapped and rewrote it multiple times, added scenes, deleted scenes, tried out different scenarios—and I'm still not sure I'm completely happy with it. *sigh* But I've kept you guys waiting long enough, so here it is!**

 **Certain aspects and events of this chapter are inspired by the comic books containing the Howling Commandos' capture and time at the HYDRA base (I'm not sure which ones as I merely researched information about their time as a POW online).**

 **Timeline**

 **There are no actual dates of when Bucky and the others were captured at Azzano (it just states October), so just to give you a heads up that all of these dates are completely random for the purpose of this story. Also,** **I have no idea what the currency value was like back then and whether four dollars was considered a lot more money than it is now, so if anyone knows about that and thinks it's unrealistic for a friendly wager then shoot me a review/PM and I'll change it accordingly.**

 **Translations**

 **Google translate was used for French translations so it's probably all epically wrong. I apologise if this offends anyone and I'm more than happy to change any mistakes if they are pointed out to me.**

 ** _'De quoi parlent-ils?'_ = What are they arguing/talking about?**  
 ** _'Choses stupides.'_ = Stupid things.**  
 ** _'Je suis désolée.'_ = I'm sorry.**  
 ** _'_ _Vous anglais et américains..._ _'_ = You English and Americans...**  
 ** _'Jones, je pense que quelque chose pourrait être brisé...'_ = Jones, I think something might be broken...**

 **Reviews**

 **Can I also just take this moment to say a HUGE thank you to all those who reviewed, favourited and followed. We've already reached 90 follows and 50 favourites since last chapter and I just can't even put into words how much it means to me! You guys absolutely rock and I love you all!**

 ** _Guest: THANK YOU!_**

 _ **Kimberley: Thank you so much for your review and sorry for the long wait on this chapter!**_ _ **I completely agree with you; Dugan is amazing! I tried to add him into this chapter a bit more for you especially! (:**_

 _ **Jo: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're an amazing human being and I hope you enjoy this one too.**_

 _ **—**_

 **So... What do you guys think of this chapter? I was a bit worried about trying to capture the general vibe and personalities of the Howling Commandos when they all meet for the first time, so I hope I've done them justice. And a bit more Bucky this chapter, yay! What do you think of his and Anna's friendship?**

 **Until next time! x**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way**.

 **A huge thank you to my Beta— _NeahZoldyck13—_ who has been an absolutely incredible human being in helping me with this fic and putting up with me over the past few weeks!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

 ** _October 17, 1943_**

The sound of shuffling and low mutters distantly reached my ears, slowly pulling me from the comfort of sleep. It didn't take long for my mind to register the deep ache searing across every millimeter of my body, but I tried not to dwell on the thought as I groggily opened my eyes a crack. Bile quickly rose in the back of my throat as the room spun sickeningly around me in a confusing blur of colors and distorted shapes. I blinked owlishly, momentarily disorientated, and desperately wished the room would still around me so I could see where I was. _What happened? Did I pass out during work? Where the hell am I? Am I back in my cell?_

The world continued to blur and shift around me as I slowly turned my head. A few sickening minutes passed before the familiar furniture of my bedroom swam into view. I barely had time to process this fact before a tall, dark shape on the other side of the room shifted and moved a few steps to the right, bending to pick something up from the floor. I squinted, trying to make out who it was. The blurry figure turned their head a few moments later to look over at something, and I felt the breath rush out of me as their face came into view. _Was it…? Could it truly be…?_

"Howie?" I breathed, my hoarse voice low and strained as I called out to him. I almost didn't dare to hope, almost didn't dare to believe that he was truly here, that he was _right there_ in front of me after all this time.

His head snapped up at my call and his painfully, _beautifully_ , familiar dark brown eyes landed on my frame. My eyes traced his features frantically, drinking in every detail and contour of one of the precious faces I thought I'd never see again: the neatly-combed hair, the usual tailored suit and tie, the immaculately groomed facial hair, the deep brown eyes and sharp edges of his defined features. A choked cry escaped my lips and I weakly reached out a hand, my arm shaking from the effort as tears filled my eyes and my throat constricted with emotion. "Howie!"

A worried look crossed his face as he slowly took a step towards me, briefly glancing over at someone to his left. I frowned in confusion and followed his gaze, only for my eyes to land on another face I thought I'd never see again. Smooth, pale skin; wavy, dark brunette locks; gorgeous, defined features. A sob escaped me and tears slipped down my face as my eyes traced up and locked with familiar soft-blue ones. "Peggy?"

They were both instantly at my side, Peggy gripping my right hand with her own, whilst Howard gently brushed my hair back in his usual soothing manner. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Anna," he hushed, his deep voice reverberating beautifully in the air around me.

Another sob left my lips, his voice the most heavenly music to my ears in that moment. "Howard… Evie… I… Oh God, I…"

"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart. It's okay," Peggy soothed me, gripping my hand forever tighter as she stared at me sadly. She tore her eyes away from my face a moment later when Howard looked over to her with a small frown.

"What's going on? Is she okay?" he questioned, one of his rare somber expressions clouding his features as his dark eyes flickered down to me in concern. I tried to reach up with my spare hand, but found I couldn't move it, almost as if something was weighing it down. I leaned further into his hand and gripped Peggy's hand tighter instead, hot tears trickling down the cold skin of my face as I stared at them both in shock.

"Anna?"

I shuddered and briefly closed my eyes as a third voice entered the conversation. _It couldn't be… It couldn't be…_ I hesitantly peeked up at the new figure who had just joined the other two in hovering over me and instantly felt my jaw slacken in disbelief. _How…? I was dreaming, I had to be… It couldn't be…_

"Anna?" he repeated softly, concern shining in his brilliant eyes that were partially hidden behind his usual round glasses. _It couldn't be… It couldn't be…_

I didn't want to take my eyes off of any of them, not even for a second, too scared that the moment my eyes left them, they would disappear again and I would be left dying back in that bare cell.

"…Abe?" I whispered disbelievingly. I blinked slowly, waiting for the three of them to disappear or waver before my eyes. But, when they didn't so much as flicker and just continued to stare down at me with concerned expressions, another sob tore its way out of my throat. _It was them. They were truly here._

If I had the strength, I would've thrown myself at the three, I would've hugged them with everything I had, and I would have _never_ let them go.

"Oh God, Abe… You're… How…" I sobbed, more tears leaking out of my eyes as I tried to find the words to explain, to make them understand what I was feeling right now. "I… I missed you… I missed you all so, _so_ much."

"Shh, Anna, it's okay, it's okay…" Abe whispered to me quietly, reaching out to gently wipe the tears from my cheeks. It was useless though; the second his thumb brushed across my cheek, there was immediately another flood to replace them. _He was here… They were here…_

"I… I was having the worst dream. It was horrible. It was… It was _horrible_." I didn't even know if they could understand what I was saying or whether my words were just an unintelligible mess as I sobbed. I couldn't stop it though. I couldn't control myself. "I thought… I thought I'd lost you… I thought I'd… I'd never see you again…"

My head spun and my vision momentarily blurred again before their features started to stabilize above me once more.

Howard shushed me and continued to soothingly stroke the hair off of my damp forehead whilst Abe frowned and turned to Peggy questioningly. "What the bloody hell is happening to her? Is she going to be okay?" he questioned lowly. _What…? Did he just…?_ My brows furrowed slightly and I blinked tiredly, swearing that I heard a hint of a British accent in Abe's low voice rather than his familiar German.

"Her fever… Through the roof… Must be…" I heard snippets of Peggy's low reply, but my brain was too hazy to figure out what they were talking about. I couldn't quite bring myself to care either. They were _here,_ they were with me once more. That was all that mattered.

"Missed you… Missed you all so much…" I repeated in a mumble, tiredness washing over me. I blinked slowly and forced myself to keep my eyes open. I didn't want to close them. I didn't want this moment to end. "So good… T'be home…"

All three of them stared down at me with impossibly sad smiles and Howard shushed me again, his hand momentarily pausing at my words in stroking back my hair before he continued with even more gentleness, if that was even possible. The three briefly exchanged a look over my head before Abe brushed away the tears I hadn't even realized were still falling. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay now, Anna. Just close your eyes and get some rest, okay? You're safe now. You're safe…"

 _Safe._ The word rang in my head, almost sounding foreign to my mind. But then, I stared up at the three faces above me—at the three people I loved more than anything else in this world—and suddenly, the word didn't seem so foreign to me anymore. _They_ were my protection. _They_ were my safety. _They_ were my rock, my stability in this chaotic world.

They were my _home._

"Just go to sleep, Anna. We're right here. It's okay."

And, as my eyes obligingly started to slide shut, I felt myself relax for the first time in what felt like forever. Peggy's reassuring grip on my hand, Howard's fingers running soothingly through my hair, Abe's low murmur and thumb gently brushing my cheek—it was all that I needed to find myself in a rare moment of utter serenity. I didn't need anything else in that moment. I was home _._

 _"AUFSTEH! JETZT!_ "

The sudden, loud yell reverberated in the air, causing me to abruptly jerk awake again as the harsh, foreign words echoed in my ears. I stared up at Howard, Abe and Peggy above me with a confused frown, my mind sluggishly trying to figure out what was going on as the room flickered around me. "What's… What's going on? Who is that? What…?"

I glanced to the right—to where the shout had come from—to try and figure out who had made the sound, only to freeze as my bedroom flickered around me again before fading into a horribly familiar sight. Light wooden floors changed into rough, cold concrete. Warm cream walls changed into unforgiving gray bars. Soft comforters changed into worn male coats. Panic reared up inside of me, scrambling my already hazy mind as I frantically looked back to Howard, Abe and Peggy to ask them what the hell was happening.

A wordless cry escaped me as I stared up at the three. "No…" I whispered hoarsely, a choked sob ripping through my throat and tears trickling back down my face as realization hit. Gabe, Falsworth and Dugan winced and continued to stare sadly down at me.

Had I been dreaming of home? Or was I just trapped in an unending nightmare of being a prisoner? What was fake? More importantly, what was _real?_ I couldn't tell anymore. I couldn't distinguish the difference between the fabric of fantasy and reality. But did it really even matter anymore? All I knew was that I was in a cell, once again. A prisoner of war, once again. Away from my friends, my _home,_ once again.

A quiet shuffling was heard to my left and my gaze snapped over to the sound, more tears falling from my eyes when I saw Dernier slowly standing and approaching from where he had been checking a bruised, battered, and unconscious Bucky over next to me. My eyes flickered down to where my left hand was still joined with Bucky's—as it had been ever since the Lohmer incident—and another sob tore through my throat as I realized which of the two 'realities' seemed more likely.

 _No… I want to wake up… I want to go_ ** _home…_**

I briefly closed my eyes before glancing back over at the other three, hopelessly wishing with every fiber of my being that when I looked back at them, the smiling faces of Howard, Abe and Peggy would be looking down at me once more. Even though I knew it was useless, I still felt the crushing devastation hit me hard in the stomach when my eyes fell on the sad faces of my fellow prisoners. My heart clenched and my breathing turned ragged as the cold weight of reality settled in. I may never see my friends again, hell, I may never leave this _place_ again _._ I may never get to have fondue nights with Howard again. I may never get to have late-night chats with Peggy, or drag her down to the pub for a drink after a long day again. I may never get to see Steve again, may never look into his beautiful blue eyes or see his breathtaking smile.

My chest tightened. My throat constricted. Blood roared in my ears.

I couldn't breathe… Fuck, I _couldn't breathe…_

"Breathe, Anna," Dugan's worried voice sounded from next to me. If I'd had enough oxygen in my lungs to snap a snarky retort, then I would have. But, as it were, that seemed to be my problem. Panic flared inside of me, only making the situation worse as I panted harshly in shallow gasps, desperately trying to quench the ever-increasing need for oxygen.

It was too much. Everything was just _too much._

"Breathe with me, Anna. In, and out… In, and out…" Gabe instructed, exaggerating his slow breathing in an attempt to help calm me down. But even as I tried to comply, I found I couldn't. Black dots danced across my vision, the loud crackling in my chest ringing eerily in my ears as I failed to regain function of my lungs. I felt like a million weights were pressing down on my chest, slowly crushing my ribs, slowly crushing the life out of me.

A sharp stinging pain abruptly flashed across the side of my face and my head snapped to the side. I clenched my eyes shut against the sensation, feeling my chest tighten further.

"Dugan!" Falsworth hissed. "What the fuck?"

"I heard that helps when someone is panicking!"

"Hitting them across the face?" Falsworth replied, voice an octave higher than usual. "You're unbelievable. You can't just—"

"Guys, shut the hell up." A hand gently brushed the hair off my forehead as silence fell. "Focus on me, Anna. Come on, just focus on me. It's alright. You're going to be alright. I just need you to copy me, okay? Can you do that?" Gabe hushed, his voice low and soothing. "Breathe in… And out… Breathe in… And out…"

The words brought an odd sense of déjà vu with them, images flitting through my head of when I said a similar thing to Steve during his asthma attack during training what seems like a lifetime ago. A warm feeling sparked in my chest as more images replayed through my mind.

 _The day we met at the Expo. The determination he had as he pushed himself through training. Him being chosen for the procedure. The way he had intently examined my eyes after he had transformed. The way I'd felt when I'd been wrapped in his arms as I hugged him goodbye._

My lips curled up slightly at the edges from the memories and warmth flooded through my veins. More images filtered behind my closed eyelids and, slowly but surely, my chest started to loosen, the cool air of our cell gradually starting to ease its way back into my lungs in deep, rattling breaths.

I tiredly let my head drop back to the floor and opened my eyes, my body shaking violently as I continued to greedily gulp as much air as I could, ignoring the sharp chest pains that accompanied the action.

"Dogs! Follow me!" our regular guard, a man called Fritz, called out from the entrance to our cell as he started to unlock the door.

The four men next to me exchanged a long look. "We can't leave them like this!" Falsworth whispered to the others indignantly, not budging an inch as he stared imploringly at them.

"We don't have a choice," Gabe muttered grimly, warily looking over his shoulder to where Fritz was swinging open our cell door with an impatient look on his hard face.

Fritz bashed his baton loudly against the bars to the cell. "This is your last warning. Move it!"

 _Pull yourself together, Anna. You can't break now. You have to stay strong._

I stubbornly shook my head slightly, trying to clear the fog cloying my senses as I determinedly tried to clamber to my feet alongside the others. I wasn't going to die. Not here, not like this, not _now._ I was going to get through this. I was going to see Peggy and Howard again. I was going to see Steve again.

My thoughts were cut off as a searing pain arced across my body when I was only about an inch off the floor. An agonized cry involuntarily escaped my lips as I fell back to the hard ground with a dull thud. Harsh tremors shook my body as I violently coughed and a hand suddenly appeared, smoothing back my hair whilst a small tub was held under my face so I could choke up the horrible dark red mucus into it. I stayed in that position for a long moment after the coughs had finally subsided, not daring to move in case I made the stabbing pains in my chest any worse.

My attention was eventually drawn back to the others as Dugan's hand reluctantly left my hair. I grunted weakly and uselessly fought to lift my body again, but Gabe placed a firm hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "Get some rest, Anna. You and Bucky aren't going anywhere today."

"But—"

"No. Rest. It will be okay," Dugan cut me off gently, shooting a glare over his shoulder at Fritz as he bashed his baton against the cell bars again.

"Don't make me come in there, you dogs. Get out here! _Now!"_

The four men exchanged another long look over my head before reluctantly climbing to their feet one by one after quietly bidding me farewell: Dugan softly pressing a kiss to my forehead, Dernier stroking my damp hair back off of my forehead, Gabe tightly squeezing my hand in reassurance, and Falsworth gently brushing the lingering tears off of my cheeks with a sad smile. Gabe quickly checked Bucky over as the others reluctantly shuffled over to the door, before he too followed, leaving me and Bucky alone. I slumped backwards, too tired to fight their demands as my eyes slipped shut and I immediately drifted off into a restless sleep.

XxXxXx

"Here," Dugan muttered quietly. He glanced over his shoulder to check no one was watching before he subtly pulled the small bag of gunpowder he had managed to steal out of his jacket and handed it over to Dernier. The Frenchman nodded his head in thanks and turned to the small pile of objects beside him, consisting of components that he had requested Dugan, Falsworth and Gabe smuggle to him if they wanted this plan to work.

Dugan nodded back before casually walking away and slowly going about his workload. He kept a close eye on Dernier the entire time though, just waiting for the signal to be given that would initiate the next part of Falsworth's plan. Dernier ignored him and bent his head, quickly getting to work. His eyes flicked up and scanned the surrounding guards every now and again for any sign of them catching onto what he was doing, before returning back to where his hands were mixing the components with skilful ease.

A pinch of this, a grind of that… He barely even had to think about what he was doing, his hands seeming to move of their own accord. He couldn't even count how many times he'd created the substance before. Given, he'd never used such a collection of odd scraps (basically whatever the group of them could plausibly get their hands on) before, but he was confident it would work all the same. _Nearly there,_ he thought to himself as he started to brush the finished substance into a small bag. He noticed Colonel Lohmer stride over to where Lieutenant Kleiber was standing nearby and listened closely to their hushed conversation as he worked.

"We're two short. Where the fuck are those two imbeciles I had a… _disagreement_ with yesterday?"

"Fritz told me they're ill, sir. Sounds like they're too weak to stand, never mind work."

"I don't give a fuck if they're coughing up their own goddamn organs, Kleiber! Go get their asses out here right now!"

Dernier winced and hurriedly tied the bag to the metal chain, attaching a long makeshift fuse to it before operating the control panel to slowly swing the chain out into position.

"Colonel, I can't do that. They'll _die_ if—"

Lohmer's nostrils flared at his inferior's defiance. "Then they'll goddamn die working like the dogs they are!" Kleiber opened his mouth to argue, but Lohmer shot him a dark look before he could say a word. " _Do not_ make me ask again, Kleiber… Go. Get. Them. _Now."_

Kleiber hesitated, his fists subtly clenching and unclenching at his side before he jerkily nodded his head and turned. Dernier's breath hitched in panic when the Lieutenant's eyes caught sight of him stood next to the controls of the crane—somewhere he most definitely _wasn't_ supposed to be—before trailing up to the chain next to him. The Frenchman could see the gears turning in the German guard's head, could see the realization dawn on his face, before his eyes returned to where he was stood frozen, like a rabbit being circled out in the open by a whole goddamn army of foxes.

Dernier tensed, waiting for the other man to call him out and ruin their plan before doing God-knows-what to them all, but he let out a surprised breath when the other man merely nodded to him slightly before walking away without a single word to Lohmer behind him. The Frenchman watched the Lieutenant's retreat closely for a pause, wondering whether it was all some sort of trick, before he shook himself off and decided that he wasn't in any position to question the opportunity they'd apparently been given. Instead, he turned and quickly gave Dugan the signal he had been, rather impatiently, waiting for.

"Fuck!" Dugan immediately cursed loudly as he tipped over the cart he'd been pushing, purposefully spilling the contents of the cart all over the floor with a loud crash. Dugan paused for a moment, staring down at the contents scattered on the warehouse floor in front him before he turned and shrugged nonchalantly, giving Lohmer a defiant grin.

As hoped, Lohmer glared daggers at him and didn't waste a second in storming across the warehouse from where he had been watching the POWs work. Dugan shot Dernier a 'hurry up' look as Lohmer pulled out his baton and swung it menacingly at his side whilst he approached.

Dernier nodded, hastily lighting the end of the makeshift fuse with a stolen match and watching with anticipation as the flame quickly traveled up the long cord. He didn't have to wait long until the flame reached the chain and ignited with the substance he had created, just as Colonel Lohmer unintentionally stepped into place underneath. Dernier almost sighed in relief. Everything was going to plan.

Silence. A pause. Dugan tensed and shot Dernier a frantic look. Falsworth froze and stared at the chain in horror, his mind already racing with another multitude of potential plans to save Anna and Barnes. Gabe lowered his head in disappointment and sighed.

 _Why was it not working? He had done everything right… It should have…_ Dernier's stomach clenched as he stared at the unmoving chain. He'd failed them. He'd failed Dugan, Falsworth and Gabe. More importantly, he'd failed Anna and Barnes. They'd all been counting on him—not that two of them knew it. They'd all been counting on him, and he'd _failed._ Christ, if Barnes and Anna didn't make it… It would be because of _him._ He couldn't even bare to think about it. He closed his eyes and his fists clenched at his side. He didn't understand. It should have _worked._

A slight hissing sound reached his ears a second later, followed by a loud creak, a short-lived desperate yell, and then a deafening crash that boomed throughout the warehouse and shook the foundations he was standing on.

The Frenchman's eyes immediately snapped back open and a small, relieved smile tugged at his lips as his gaze landed on the satisfying sight in front of him.

XxXxXx

I was abruptly roused from my sleep again sometime later by shouting and herds of footsteps pounding across the floor. I groaned and squinted my eyes slightly, weakly turning my head to watch as all of the prisoners were shoved back into their cells by multiple guards, a heavy tension hanging in the air around them. Dugan, Gabe, Falsworth and Dernier were roughly pushed back into our cell a few moments later.

Fritz knocked off Dugan's trademark bowler hat with his baton as he shoved him through the door to our cell, smirking infuriatingly. Dugan quickly caught it before he turned to the guard with an overly cheerful smile on his face, a dangerous gleam entering his eye as he carefully placed his beloved bowler hat back on his head. "You know, Fritz, one of these days I'll have a stick of my own."

I snorted quietly in amusement at the words, but instantly regretted it as my chest constricted tightly and another small coughing fit wracked my body. I distantly noted Fritz shoot one last glare at all of us before slamming the door to our cell shut and storming off with the other guards following right behind him. Once they had all left, the guys turned to where Bucky and I were led with concerned looks on their faces, Gabe and Dugan instantly making their way to our sides to check us over.

"What happened?" I breathed quietly, confused by the whole squad of armed guards that had escorted all of the prisoners back to their cells. And, even though I had lost all concept of time in this place, it still seemed way too early for them to have finished the increased production quota for the day. Bucky, who had woken alongside me, nodded in silent agreement to my question as we both stared at the others. Our rattling breaths seemed to echo loudly in the momentary silence that hung over us.

The four exchanged a glance with each other, seeming to be silently debating something amongst themselves before Falsworth eventually turned back to us with a shrug. "There was an accident today, involving Lohmer. They sent all of us back whilst they… cleaned up," he muttered in explanation.

"Lohmer?" I choked out, wheezing slightly from the strain of talking. I stubbornly pushed through, determined not to give up. I wanted to know what they had done to him, because—even though my head was pounding like someone was hitting it repeatedly with a hammer, making it almost impossible to form a coherent thought—I just knew that they had been the ones behind it. "What… you do?"

"That's what I want to know," Bucky coughed, his hand still weakly gripping onto mine. He shifted from where he was lying down beside me, the movement causing a low groan of pain to escape him.

"Don't worry. He won't be causing either of you any harm again."

"Dropped a crane of scrap metal on the bastard."

Gabe and Dugan said at the same time—Gabe in a soothing tone and Dugan with a snarl, his face showing no remorse as he spat the words out with a glint of satisfaction in his eye. Gabe glared at Dugan and shook his head whilst Falsworth chuckled lightly in the background.

"You…" Bucky trailed off slowly, processing what we had just been told.

"You're both safe for now, Jimmy. Don't you worry," Dugan commented, glancing down at my tired face with a small wince.

"I told you. Don't… call me Jimmy, Dum Dum," Bucky muttered back, shooting a weak glare of annoyance in Dugan's general direction.

"Dum Dum? I've never heard a more accurate name for someone before," Falsworth snorted with a grin, chuckling in amusement when Dugan growled and shot him a filthy look.

"What about you, you chinless wonder?" Dugan shot back. I mentally rolled my eyes at him for making _yet another_ jab at Falsworth being British.

"At least even you admit I'm a wonder. I'm afraid I can't say the same for you. We all know the only wonder about _you_ is your lack of intelligence, _Dum Dum,_ " Falsworth quickly retaliated, a wide smile pulling at his lips as he emphasized the new nickname.

"Look… what you caused, pretty boy. They're never gonna… let that drop," I muttered quietly to Bucky beside me, wincing as another series of heaving coughs soon followed. I weakly leant back over the small tub to spit out the bloody mucus I had yet again choked up before resting my head tiredly back against the floor, trying to ignore the now almost familiar taste of copper in my mouth.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 18, 1943_**

I was pulled from my restless slumber as Bucky twisted and turned in his sleep beside me, groaning lowly in pain every time the movement irritated his broken ribs. I distantly heard him muttering under his breath, his grip on my hand almost painfully tight as he kept repeating unintelligible words under his breath. I squinted slightly and strained my ears as I tried to make out what he was saying, but everything was weirdly distorted around me, as if my head had been shoved under water and I was trying to view the outside world from under its depths. A whimper escaped his lips, the sound muffled and warped to my ears, and somewhere at the back of my hazy mind I vaguely realized he must be having a nightmare.

I croaked out his name, blindly flinging my free hand out in his direction in an attempt to wake him. My hand was so numb that I didn't even feel it as it hit the hard muscle of Bucky's arm, but I knew that I must have hit something when he abruptly jerked awake with a start beside me. Grey tinged the edges of my vision and my head throbbed nauseatingly against my skull, but I forced my eyes to stay open, somehow knowing that he needed me right now.

"You… You 'kay?" I asked lowly, not wanting to wake the others.

I waited patiently for him to speak, not wanting to force him into talking before he was ready to. I used the time to try and steady my own uneven breathing, wincing at the crackling noise still sounding in my lungs. _Had it got louder? Or was I just imagining it?_

"Miss home… Miss him," Bucky eventually admitted quietly to me after a long pause. I tightened my clammy grip on his hand at the words, a faint image flickering into my mind of a handsome guy in his military uniform arguing with his skinny friend in an enlistment building. A tiny smile pulled at my dry, cracked lips at the memory and, for some reason, I didn't even need to ask him who he was referring to. Somehow, I just knew he was talking about Steve. A dull ache flared in my chest for a completely different reason than my illness then, a longing to see the blonde who had so quickly managed to worm his way into my heart knotting deep in my stomach.

"Tell me about him. Tell me… Tell me 'bout Steve." The low, hoarse words were out of my mouth before my brain even registered that I was saying them. After what had happened yesterday, I craved some sort of comfort again, craved some sort of familiarity and peace in this absolute hellhole of a place.

"You… know him?"

I felt a faint flicker of surprise at the question and frowned slightly as I tried to recall my memories of the past few weeks. Why had I never brought up the fact that I knew Steve before? Was it because of the ache that flared in my chest whenever I thought about not seeing him or the others again? Or was it just because I wanted to be able to see Bucky's face when he first sees Steve's transformation? I couldn't be sure. Everything was a jumbled mess in my mind.

I tried to nod slightly. "Met him at… at the Expo. Saw you there too. Lookin' pretty in... your uniform."

Bucky smiled faintly. "I met him in a back alley. Started a fight he… he couldn't finish. Jumped in. Saved his ass. We… we've been best friends ever since." His glazed eyes seemed to brighten the slightest bit as he spoke about Steve, and I didn't have to ask to know that he was feeling the same serenity, the same comfort, from the words as I was.

"I guess… you had to save his ass a lot, huh?" I commented with a weak grin, fondly thinking of Steve's stubbornness. The memory of him pointing out all of the places he had been beaten up in the car ride before the procedure briefly flitted through my mind, and I knew Bucky must have had his hands full trying to keep him out of trouble. I tried to chuckle at the thought, only for heaving coughs to wrack my body at the movement and a severe pain to burn through my chest.

I groaned weakly, my head spinning sickeningly as I slumped back down. My eyes fluttered shut of their own accord, exhaustion clawing its way through me and trying to pull me back down into the dark abyss of sleep.

"More times than I… I can count," Bucky's hoarse voice responded quietly, a fond note to his tone as he reminisced. I turned my head in his direction, tiredly keeping my eyes closed. "He was… a punk. Kept tryin' to enlist, even… even tho' he… list of ailments… long as my arm."

Bucky's voice faded in and out of my hearing as I slowly lost the fight against the darkness and started to drift off. Somewhere at the back of my head, I knew he was fading fast too as his grip on my hand loosened ever so slightly and his words became more disjointed and slurred. The last words I heard before I fell into unconsciousness would have made me smile if I had the energy:

"Skinny kid… from… from Broo'lyn."

XxXxXx

"Now in charge… Colonel Lohmer… Pronounced dead at… on 17th October…" Words floated in and out of my hearing as I slowly came to with a groan. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Was it… Fritz? No, that's not right. Lohmer? Definitely not. Lieutenant Kleiber? Yes, maybe. "…Following the unfortunate _accident_ that occurred during production…" I missed the pointed look he shot the others in the cell, closing my eyes again. "…All POWs… reduced rations for a week… punishment... can't be proved..."

Footsteps echoed a few minutes later, keys jangling as a door was shut and locked before the sounds faded away into the distance. Low mutters from my cellmates filled the air, but I didn't care about whatever had just been announced. My mind was caught on one thing.

"It's… 17th?" I breathed, squinting my glazed eyes slightly as I tried to turn my head. Gabe and Dugan immediately rushed to my side, peering down at me worriedly as they tried to shush me and a hand stroked my matted hair back, although I couldn't tell who's. I could barely even make out their faces, everything seeming blurry and distorted as I tried my hardest to focus. **  
**  
"Shh, don't try to talk, Anna. Save your strength," Gabe murmured to me in a soothing tone, his brow furrowed in worry as he rested the back of his hand on my forehead to feel my temperature. I knew the frown on his face wasn't a good sign as he removed his hand from my damp skin moments later, but I couldn't bring myself to care. What date it was suddenly seemed like the most important thing in the world to me.

"17th?" I asked again, my hoarse voice coming out so low that it was barely audible.

Falsworth's head entered my blurry vision as he appeared next to Dugan and Gabe, the three exchanging glances over my head in confusion before Falsworth muttered to the two in a low voice. "Is she having delusions again?"

"It's possible. Her fever is—"

I cut Gabe off, trying to shake my head, but soon giving up when I found I didn't have the energy to move it. "Is... 17th?"

They all exchanged a glance again before Dugan shrugged and Gabe looked down at me. "No, the 17th was yesterday, Anna. We came back early and told you about the accident with Lohmer, remember?"

I blinked in confusion, not remembering the conversation. Actually, I couldn't remember much of anything in general. Just distorted images and muffled sounds, as if everything was a distant dream I had once had a long time ago. For some reason, one fact stood out to me though: it was the 18th. I couldn't remember anything, but I could strangely remember one detail about myself. "Birthday. 18th."

Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth stared blankly at me for a pause, probably straining to hear my whispered words over the incessant wheezing sound my breathing was making, but then realization dawned on Falsworth's face. "It's your birthday today?"

I managed the barest hint of a nod and the three smiled down at me. "How old are you? 22?"

"You don't ask a lady that," Falsworth quietly hissed, his British accent ringing through more than usual as he hit Dugan in the ribs with his elbow.

"Here we go again with the British propriety. I thought we got past this," Dugan instantly retaliated with a roll of the eyes, shooting an annoyed look to the Brit beside him.

I frowned at the question though, ignoring the three bickering men as my brain went blank in confusion. How old was I? When was I born? _Where_ was I born? What...?

"You don't mind, do you, Annie?" Dugan joked lightheartedly as he glanced away from Falsworth to look down at me, obviously trying to get me to side with him on whatever they were arguing about now.

I didn't respond to him, the nickname ringing in my ears, strangely familiar to me. _Annie._ Where had I heard that before? A distorted image of a familiar, handsome dark-haired man with a flirty smile suddenly flashed before my eyes. _Annie…_ My eyes became unfocused as a faint memory slowly surfaced.

—

 _"Are you crazy?" a beautiful, dark-haired woman demanded as she stormed into the room with a handsome man following right behind her, both looking equally as angry as each other._

 _I glanced up at them, feeling a slight twinge of guilt briefly twist in my gut before it was drowned out by my previous steely determination. I shrugged noncommittally and turned back to shoving basic clothes into the bag that I normally used for long missions. "Probably."_

 _"You're not going," the woman snapped, striding further into the room and grabbing my arm to gently, but firmly, pull me away from the items I was packing on my bed._

 _I gave her a look, raising an eyebrow slightly as I carefully pulled my arm out of her grip. "Yes, I am."_

 _The dark-haired man shook his head and walked over to stand beside the woman, his face unusually serious as he stared down at me. "No, you're not, Annie. We can't just let you—"_

 _I cut him off before he could finish. "Those bastards killed Abe, Howie. I'm sure as hell not going to sit on my ass and let them run free while I could be doing something about it."_

 _"Anna, please! Just think about this for a moment—" the woman started to speak, an almost pleading tone entering her voice as she stared at me in worry, but I cut her off before she could finish in the same way as I had just done to the man._

 _"Guys, stop! All I'm doing is infiltrating a HYDRA base, alongside the 107th, and collecting any valuable strategic information that I can find. I've been on dozens of missions like this before, so why are you both reacting like this about this particular one?"_

 _There was a pause where they both glanced at each other before the woman eventually replied in a soft voice. "We're worried about you, Anna. You shouldn't be going on a mission alone so soon after Erskine's death."_

 _"I won't be alone. I'll be with the 107th," I repeated, giving them both a confused look._

 _"She meant alone as in without either of us there," the man clarified with a small frown, his eyes heavy with concern as he stared down at me._

 _"I'll be fine. I know how to keep a clear head on missions, you both know that."_

 _There was another long pause after I had spoke, both scrutinizing me intently with their eyes._

 _"What happened to never wanting to be parted on missions again?" the woman weakly teased after a moment, breaking the silence that had fallen. I breathed a silent sigh of relief at the words, knowing that was her way of reluctantly accepting me going._

 _"We both know Phillips would have never gone for it anyway," I snorted lightly, reaching out to squeeze her upper arm gently as I gave her a small smile._

 _"Be careful, Gracie," she muttered to me as she briefly covered my hand that was placed on her arm with her own and squeezed lightly in worry._

 _"Always am." I nodded at her, pulling my hand back so that I could give her a mock salute whilst a mischievous smirk curled up the edges of my lips. She snorted slightly in response, shaking her head in exasperation with a small chuckle._

 _After a moment, I turned to look at the handsome man with an expectant look when he continued to stay unusually quiet, raising an eyebrow at him with a small smile when he eventually sighed. "You sure as hell better come back in one piece."_

 _"You're hardly one to talk after the amount of times you've almost blown yourself up in your lab," I teased, my smile widening as I saw him roll his eyes and a small smirk twitch at his lips._

 _"That was one time, Annie. One time," he shot back with an exasperated shake of his head, causing me to chuckle slightly._

 _"Try not to make it go up to two while I'm gone, yeah?" I winked, smirking when he rolled his eyes and shot me a dirty look whilst trying to hide his smile._

—

I let out a choked sob as the memory faded away, the action inducing another violent coughing fit as I rolled over onto my side and choked out the bloody mucus that rose in the back of my throat. A single tear slipped out of my eye as I lay there afterwards, fighting to catch my breath and trying to ignore the stabbing pains exploding in my chest. A faint image of their familiar faces echoed in my mind and my heart clenched painfully as their names came back to me through the thick fog clouding my brain. _Howard. Peggy._

"Happy… Birthday, princess," Bucky's weak voice sounded from beside me, breaking me from my pained thoughts. I somehow managed to find the energy to roll my head to face him, seeing the tiniest hint of a smile on his pale, damp face as he tiredly stared at me.

"Thanks, pretty boy," I whispered back quietly.

And if he noticed the extra hoarseness to my voice, he didn't comment on it. Nor did he comment when he noticed the tear rolling down my cheek. He just weakly reached up with his free hand and carefully wiped the moisture away with his thumb before letting his arm drop back to the floor with a tired grunt. I somehow managed to pull my lips up into a small smile at his actions, my eyes fluttering closed from exhaustion once again as he weakly squeezed our joined hands in silent reassurance.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Um, hi? *hides as rotten food is chucked at her* I'm so, so sorry for the long wait, guys! I've not only been super-busy, but I've also been writing and then re-writing (and then re-writing again) this chapter a ridiculous amount of times. *sighs* The pursuit of perfection is an unending and frustrating one. And yes, I know this is _nowhere near_ perfect, but I'm going to drive myself crazy if I change this one more time.**

 **So, I'm not going to lie, I may or may not (eh, who am I kidding, it was definitely the former) have cried whilst writing the beginning of this chapter with the whole hallucination scene. I guess I could chalk it up to the fact that I was listening to very (heartbreakingly) sad music whilst writing it... In which case, I seriously need to make a note to self to never do that again. XD**

 **Timeline**

 **Again, there are no actual dates of when certain events happened with the Howling Commandos capture at HYDRA, so I have made all dates up for the purpose of this story.** **Certain events of this chapter were inspired by the comic books containing the Howling Commandos' capture and time at the HYDRA base. I take no credit for these ideas, only my own outlook on them.**

 **Oh, and in case anyone is curious: it was Anna's 25th birthday. I've placed her as being born in 1918, three months after Steve.**

 **Follows**

 **OH MY GOD, WE'VE HIT 100 FOLLOWS AND I SWEAR I'M HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS AND I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH FOR THE AMAZING SUPPORT… *clears throat* Sorry about the caps, guys. As you can tell, I'm a little excitable right now. BUT I DON'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE 100 FOLLOWS. I LOVE YOU ALL. YOU'RE ALL INSANELY AMAZING HUMAN BEINGS. I'm not even sorry for the second time. ;)**

 **As you can tell, I'm walking on cloud nine right now. And so, I thought to celebrate hitting 100 follows, I'd do something special. After much debate about what to do, I thought I could send each and every reviewer for this chapter a sneak preview of the upcoming chapter (unfortunately, this** **will obviously only work for those signed in—sorry to all my lovely guest reviewers, I'll try to think of something for you guys too). What do you guys think? Is that something you'd be interested in?**

 **Reviews**

 _ **Kimberley: Thank you so much! I was pretty worried about introducing them all, tbh. They all have such big characters (*cough* Dugan *cough*) and I really wanted to try and capture that as much as possible in their introduction. They're finally starting to come together a bit more as a group now and—although they don't know it yet—have just performed their first successful mission as the Howling Commandos. Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much, hunn! x**_

 _ **Jo: Hello again, my lovely loyal reviewer! *hugs* It actually brings a smile to my face to know that every time I post a chapter, I'll see a comment from you that will brighten my day, so thank you a million times over. Words can't even begin to describe how much of a huge encouragement that is for me! And don't worry, they got away with it and didn't do anything *too* radical. I hope all is well with you and that you enjoyed this chapter!**_

 _ **infinateconstellations: Eek! I'm so, so happy that you love the interactions between the Howling Commandos, and Anna and Bucky's friendship! I originally never meant to write Anna and Bucky (slowly but surely) becoming such close friends. But alas, they just seem to be writing themselves and I just can't help but love their budding friendship with each other. I can definitely promise there will be a lot more cute moments between the two as the story goes on! Thank you so much for taking the time to review and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**_

 _ **BeccaSco: OH MY GOD. THANK YOU SOO MUCH YOU BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING HUMAN BEING! Your review brought such a huge smile to my face and I absolutely love you for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**_

 _ **—**_

 **Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, guys! (Pretty please?) I love hearing from you all and it really does make me write faster when I get some feedback from all of you lovely readers!**

 **Until next time! x**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.**

 **Thanks to my wonderful Beta, NeahZoldyck13, for doing a stunning job editing this chapter, as always.** **Oh, and one more thing: I'm pre-warning you now that the length of the Author's Note at the end of this chapter may be, just ever-so-slightly, long. I apologise in advance for my apparent tendency to ramble. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

 ** _October 19th, 1943_**

"Damn it!"

I jerked slightly as something metallic crashed against the bars of our cell, blinking groggily. The hollow din echoed loudly as one of our dented food trays clattered to the floor from where Gabe had flung it across our cramped living quarters. He was breathing heavily, fists clenched so hard at his side they were stained a stark white, muscle twitching angrily in his jaw. I winced as the harsh sound rang over and over again in my head, rebounding against the sides of my skull in time with the pounding ache it caused.

Falsworth sighed quietly. "Gabe, calm down…"

"They need treatment. _Proper_ medical treatment," Gabe snapped, frustrated. "I can't… I don't…"

"Mate, you're doing the best you can—"

"And that's not good enough!" Gabe stressed as he roughly ran a hand over his face. "They're not going to last much longer without medicine."

As if on cue, a harsh cough shuddered through me and Gabe's eyes met mine. His expression softened slightly, the weak smile he sent me doing nothing to hide the pain in his gaze. I tried to speak, to reassure him in whatever way I could, but my throat was too dry to let out anything but a hoarse murmur.

It barely took Dugan two seconds to reach my side, his large hand lifting my head with surprising gentleness whilst the other carefully tipped some water in my mouth from a small flask. The only water provided here was unclean, murky, disgusting stuff that tasted more like copper and dirt than anything else. Yet as it washed over my parched mouth and throat, it felt like damn heaven to me in that moment.

I clumsily swallowed a few more sips, each tasting worse than the last, before I drooped back into Dugan's hold. My eyelids slid shut against my will, the mere effort of swallowing draining me to the point of exhaustion yet again. I felt Dugan slowly lower me back to the floor, ever so delicately brushing a strand of hair off my forehead, as if I was a glass doll that would break if handled with too much pressure.

"Thank you," I whispered lowly to him, not needing to open my eyes to know he was listening closely.

"Get some more rest, Anna," he murmured back. "You'll feel better when you wake up."

We both knew it was complete and utter bullshit, but I appreciated the sentiment more than he could know.

I briefly heard him shuffling off to my left after a series of violent coughs sounded, no doubt to help Bucky drink something too and help in whatever other way he could, and then I drifted back off into a restless sleep.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 20th, 1943_**

Gabe sighed as Dugan threw him a filthy look for what must have been the fortieth time in the past ten minutes alone. The large man had been very… _vocal_ about leaving Bucky and Anna this morning for work, claiming that someone needed to watch over them. Gabe hadn't wanted to argue against it. If anything, he had wanted to stay and do it himself. Sure, Bucky and Anna weren't particularly in any worse condition than they were yesterday, but something was different today. He'd felt it ever since he woke up. They all had. There was this heavy atmosphere, this inexplicable feeling of dread, so strong it was almost tangible in the air. It was an unnerving sensation; the type that raised the hairs on the back of his neck and constantly had him looking over his shoulder for something unknown.

But Gabe had seen the look on Fritz's face as he stood impatiently in the doorway, hand curling around his baton in warning. He knew they had no choice. It was either go willingly or go bloody and broken. Gabe knew that Dugan understood that too, deep down. But that didn't stop him from digging his heels in when Gabe had grabbed his arm and tried to guide him out before they all got beaten into the next century. Nor did it stop him from his vocal outrage when Gabe had nodded for Falsworth and Dernier to help him restrain the big guy, using expletives in ways that no amount of years in the army could prepare a man for. It took the full strength of all three, and even then it was one hell of a struggle, but between them they had just about managed to drag Dugan's protesting ass out the cell and to their day's workstation before Fritz decided to intervene.

Dugan lifted his head from where he'd just chucked another large piece of scrap metal into the container they were all working around, shooting another filthy look to the group's resident medic. Gabe sighed and slammed his hand against the container, finally losing his patience. "Damn it, Dugan. Stop with the looks," he snapped. "We didn't have a choice."

Falsworth and Dernier paused in their work to watch the inevitable argument that was about to break out between the two Americans again. But, to all of their surprise, it never came. Dugan merely sighed and clenched his fist, eyes heavy with worry. "We never should have left them. They're too weak right now."

"Sick cellmates?"

The unexpected intrusion into their conversation caused all four to tense, heads snapping over to where the new voice had come from. An unfamiliar guy was looking at them from the next workstation over, his expression sympathetic as he gave them a small nod. "I'm sorry for your loss," he murmured sincerely.

Dugan eyed the guy's prominent Japanese features with a raised brow. "They got you guys too, huh?"

Gabe could have facepalmed at Dugan's usual brashness with words. The guy, however, didn't seem too offended. "I'm from Fresno, Ace," he returned, holding his tags up and emphasizing his American accent with a roll of the eyes.

Dugan's trademark smirk appeared as he opened his mouth to respond, but Gabe cut him off with a look. He didn't need the large male to say a single word for him to know that he was about to try and rile the new guy up. He always did. "Can you, just this once, try to make friends like a normal human being?"

"Friends?" Dugan snorted. "Who said I was trying to make fr—"

"Hold up," Falsworth spoke up, raising his hands in the universal 'stop' sign. "What do you mean, 'I'm sorry for your loss'? We haven't lost anyone. They're still alive. They still have a chance."

A small to non-existent chance, maybe, but a chance nonetheless.

The Japanese-American guy looked surprised for a second, before realization flickered across his features and he gave them a sorrowful look. "You haven't heard then?"

Falsworth, Dernier, Dugan and Gabe exchanged confused looks; Dernier probably more so because he wasn't fluent enough in English to properly comprehend what was being said. "Heard what?"

"We had a couple of young lads in our cell block suffering with cholera a few weeks ago," he explained. "When they got too weak to work, they were taken by the guards one after the other." He frowned and let out a quiet sigh. "They were good kids. Too green to deserve all this shit." The guy shook his head. "Heard they weren't the only ones to go either."

Gabe let out a shuddering breath. "They're taking all the sick ones."

"Bloody hell," Falsworth cursed, running a stressed hand over his face and closing his eyes. His mind was already racing with a million thoughts, trying to formulate some sort of plan to save the same fate from befalling the duo currently lying back in their cell.

"If it's true, then it won't be long now," Gabe murmured worriedly. "They're going to notice their condition soon enough."

The sound of knuckles cracking rang through the air. "Hell if I'll just let the bastards take either of them."

Falsworth grunted in annoyance. "We can't stop them, Dum Dum. Not physically, anyway. It would be four against hundreds." He hated having to say the words, but he knew it was the harsh reality of their situation.

"I'll take those odds," Dugan hissed back, unperturbed, cracking his knuckles once more.

"Dugan, don't be stupid," Gabe sighed reluctantly. "We wouldn't last two minutes."

"Give yourselves some credit, guys," the Japanese-American guy piped up with a smirk. "I'd bet you could probably last around five."

Dugan snorted, eyeing the newbie again. "Oh, you're still here?"

The large man dutifully ignored Gabe's low mutter of "oh, for the love of God" and continued to stare down the unfamiliar male.

"For the next five hours," the guy stated dryly, nodding. "Same as everyone else."

"Ignore him," Gabe said, rolling his eyes. He held out his hand to the guy in greeting. "Gabe Jones."

"Jim Morita," the guy— _Jim—_ introduced with a small smile, shaking the proffered hand with a firm grip.

Gabe returned the smile and stepped back into place around his workstation, gesturing to the men around him. "This is James Montgomery Falsworth, or 'Monty' as he prefers." Gabe ignored the low grumble of protest from the Brit, eyes gleaming with mirth. "Jacques Dernier. Member of the French Resistance, English is a little limited." Jim nodded to the two men in greeting. "And this _charming_ asshole is Timothy Dugan, or 'Dum Dum' as he's better known."

Jim let out an amused chuckle at Dugan's responding growl to the nickname, grinning at the dark glare the large man shot Gabe. The brief moment of lightheartedness ended when Falsworth looked up with a frown, mind still preoccupied with the previous conversation. "What do you reckon they do with them?"

There was a long pause between the men, none of them knowing how to answer to that. Finally, Gabe sighed. "I don't think we want to know."

"Whatever it is," Jim muttered in a low voice, "no one comes back."

His answer seemed to silence them all as no one spoke again for the next hour, the atmosphere between them eerily quiet for the first time since they had all been shoved in that hell-hole together. They just kept their heads down and carried on with their assigned tasks on autopilot, minds elsewhere, expressions solemn. None of them wanted to accept the inevitable.

Falsworth was the first one to break the long silence, slamming his hand down on the side of the container in frustration. "There has to be a way to prevent it."

Jim turned his attention back to the group at the sudden outburst. "Short of them getting better…" he shrugged apologetically, shaking his head.

Dernier, who had been quietly observing everything for the past few hours, abruptly reached out and blindly grabbed the arm of the person stood closest to him, which just so happened to be Dugan. His eyes were transfixed on something in the distance as he shook Dugan's arm, desperately trying to get the other man's attention. But Dugan merely shrugged the Frenchman off with a sigh. "Not now, Frenchie. Gabe will translate later," he muttered distractedly.

"We'll come up with something," Falsworth argued back in response to Jim's words. He couldn't accept the fact that they were helpless to stop it. He _wouldn't_ accept it. "We always do."

" _Non… Non, s'il vous plaît, non..._ " Dernier breathed lowly in horror, gripping Dugan's arm again to steady himself. " _Trop tard… Nous sommes trop en retard… Ils les ont… Ils les ont…_ "

"Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you, Frenchie?" Dugan snapped irritably, shaking Dernier's hand off of him once more with an exasperated grunt. He was too busy glaring at the Frenchman to notice the way Gabe paled at Dernier's words, or how he spun around to frantically search for something in the distance.

Jim, realizing something was wrong, followed Dernier's line of gaze and his face fell solemn. "I think you may already be too late."

Dugan and Falsworth spun to face the Japanese-American guy at his words, mouths open in outrage, ready to argue against the pessimistic response with a ferocity that would have had even Adolf Hitler running. But they faltered when they saw the empathetic look on the other man's face, the sorrow in his eyes, as he slowly nodded his head in the direction Dernier and Gabe were still staring, frozen. The Brit hesitantly turned to face the direction Jim had pointed to, Dugan following a second later, both their eyes scanning the warehouse around them for some sign of what the hell was going on. Falsworth noticed Dugan's entire body go rigid out of the corner of his eye and he frowned, scanning the area again, wondering what he was missing. But then his eyes landed on two moving shapes in the distance and he felt all the breath leave his body.

They'd had even less time than they'd thought.

Two HYDRA soldiers were carrying an unconscious female and male across the warehouse, presumably to the restricted access door on the other side of the building, the lifeless bodies slung roughly over their shoulders without a care. Falsworth didn't need to see the faces of the two POWs to know that it was Anna and Bucky. He could feel it in the way his entire body felt like it had been doused in ice-cold water, sucking away whatever remaining breath he had, and in the way an acute ache pierced through his heart. For the longest, most painful, pause, no one moved; each and every one of them frozen in place, unable to comprehend what was happening. And then, like someone had slapped them out of their haze, the four men all surged forwards in sync.

Dugan let out an enraged cry the moment they were within hearing distance, nostrils flaring. "Oi, what the fuck do you think you are doing with them?"

The two soldiers barely even spared them a glance, their pace unfaltering as they continued onward to their destination. Falsworth and Dernier fanned out from Dugan and Gabe to block their pathway, forcing the soldiers to halt in place. The unfolding altercation had the entire warehouse falling so silent you could hear a pin drop from one end to the other, every POW in the entire facility watching the group closely. Some were staring in awe, eyeing them in shocked respect, others shaking their heads in dread for what was to come. Jim, still at his workstation, was silently mouthing a prayer under his breath for the four brave idiots he'd just met.

"Move," the soldier on the left demanded in a cold, monotonous voice. He shifted the heavy weight on his shoulder slightly, causing Bucky to let out a pained moan in his sleep.

Dugan and Gabe moved to stand on either side of Falsworth and Dernier in answer, creating an unmoving barricade between the two soldiers and the door behind. "You're not going anywhere with them," Dugan spat.

The soldier on the right exhaled, looking almost bored with the situation, and reached for his gun. The four men all tensed at the action but refused to move an inch. "They are being put into isolation for… _treatment,"_ he drawled in a thick German accent, raising his gun. "Now move. This is your last warning."

"Like _hell_ they are," Dugan hissed lowly. His fists clenched tightly at his side as he shifted, clearly preparing himself for the inevitable fight that was about to break out.

"What the _fuck_ is going on?" a voice shouted angrily, breaking the tense silence that had fallen. Gabe's eyes ever-so-briefly flickered over to where Kleiber was storming towards them with more guards than he'd care to count following close behind. "Prisoners, stand down. _Immediately_."

The four exchanged wary looks with each other, unsure how the hell they were going to get out of this one, but remained standing where they were. Kleiber sighed and signaled to the guards behind him. They were surrounded in seconds, some thirty plus guns trained on them from every direction.

"Fuck," Gabe cursed lowly.

"Don't you dare stand down, Jones," Dugan muttered, still tense with anger and gunning for a fight. "We can take these assholes."

Falsworth eyed the multitude of weapons pointing at them from all sides with a snort. "Oh yeah? How'd you figure that?"

Gabe nodded to where the soldier carrying Anna still had his gun leveled with Dernier's head. "If we so much as move an inch, Dernier will die."

"I'm sure Frenchie will understand."

"Bloody hell, Dum Dum," Falsworth sighed in frustration. He gestured to the circle of armed guards surrounding them. "If we attack, we're _all_ dead _."_

Dugan grunted. "So we're just going to give in?"

"We don't have much of a bloody choice," Falsworth returned with a low snarl. He was as equally frustrated with the situation as Dugan, but what the large man was proposing was goddamn suicide. Gabe exchanged a short nod with the Brit before muttering lowly to Dernier in French. All three reluctantly lowered to their knees, raising their hands in a sign of surrender. Dugan clenched his jaw and angrily eyed the two soldiers holding Bucky and Anna in front of them.

" _Dugan,_ " Gabe warned, shaking his head. "Don't."

The large man growled and let out a long string of expletives, but reluctantly obeyed Gabe's plea, lowering himself to the ground. The moment his knees came into contact with the floor, multiple hands were restraining each of them. Dugan briefly struggled against their hold, still full of pent-up anger, before reluctantly stilling in their grasp at Gabe's look.

"Take these four back to their cell," Kleiber ordered. Falsworth almost let out a sigh; if Lohmer had still been around, they would have undoubtedly been shot for their insubordinate behavior. "They'll resume work tomorrow."

Only a few minutes later saw them being shoved harshly into their cell by the guards, the barred door slamming shut behind them with a harsh clang. Falsworth, Gabe and Dernier didn't move an inch from where they stood, even after the sound of the guards' footsteps had long since faded away, their eyes fixated on the spot where Anna and Bucky usually were. But where their two cellmates had once lay was now bare, the two mismatched piles of coats that had served as makeshift beds and covers for the two serving as the only reminder of them ever being there. None of the three wanted to voice how empty the cell suddenly felt without the familiar presence of the duo there.

"The bastards. The _fucking_ bastards. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill every single one of them," Dugan ranted loudly, drawing the attention of the others as they watched the large man pace around the cell like a caged wild animal. "If they dare harm either of them…"

They all knew that was most likely _exactly_ what the HYDRA scum were going to do.

"If you're not useful, you're disposable," Falsworth quietly voiced, repeating the words they'd been so coldly told on their first day here.

Gabe instinctively waited for the usual snarky retort from Anna or Bucky, something along the lines of _"Well, then it beats the shit out of me how any of you lot are still alive and kicking,"_ but nothing came. He knew it wouldn't, but something deep inside of him had still foolishly hoped. He closed his eyes, leaned back against the cell bars, and tried to ignore the ache in his chest.

No one spoke again.

XxXxXx

Zola frowned, watching as the guards carried another body out of his lab. _Subject 27._

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. Twenty-seven failed tests. Twenty-seven POWs come and gone. All came in sick, all leaving dead. His jaw clenched slightly in frustration. _What was he doing wrong?_

It was clear he was missing something, yes. But _what?_

A bored sigh came from somewhere to his left. "Do you insist on still continuing with this project, Doctor?"

Zola picked up his clipboard and glanced over at where Schmidt was standing nearby with a nod. "If this works, it could change the war."

"Yes, _if_ it works." Schmidt raised an eyebrow when the guards noisily brought in the new test subjects Zola had requested them to go find.

"The advantage it would give us over the Allies would be great, sir."

Schmidt dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand after they had dumped the unconscious bodies down on separate gurneys, before eyeing the two POWs with distaste. "Then do continue, Doctor." Schmidt waved his hand in the direction of the two bodies before exiting the room without another word.

Another frown appeared on Zola's face as he approached. One of the bodies was tiny compared to the others he had experimented on— _great, this one wouldn't even last a day—_ and crackling sounds were echoing loudly in the otherwise silent lab with every inhale and exhale they both took. _Most likely pneumonia,_ he mentally noted to himself. He circled the closest one, finally drawing to a stop when the smaller figure's face came into view.

He paused, surprise briefly flitting across his features. _It was a woman._ He hadn't even known they had any females amongst the POWs—soldiers of that particular gender were rather uncommon. A rarity, even.

 _She must be strong,_ he mused to himself. _A fighter._

He took a step closer, something niggling in the back of his head as she turned her head slightly in her sleep, her eyelashes fluttering briefly. The light spilled more clearly across her face, highlighting her features. A faint spark of recognition passed through him and he examined her more intently for a moment.

He swore he'd seen her somewhere before, but the question was _where?_

XxXxXx

 ** _October 22nd, 1943_**

It's weird what the human brain registers when you're somewhere between the waking world and the dark abyss of sleep; like how the surface beneath you feels stranger than it should, or how the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped, or even how the very air around you feels different from before. In this particular instance, the first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness was that the familiar weight of Bucky's hand had vanished.

My left hand unconsciously flexed into a fist, as if searching for the warm hold it had become so accustomed to over the past few days, but my fingers met nothing but cold air. My eyes snapped open of their own accord, alarm shooting through me at the missing contact, only for me to hiss and clench them tightly shut again seconds later as blinding white light seared into my unsuspecting irises. Uneasiness twisted through me and my pulse quickened. Our cell, which we'd had the _pleasure_ of calling home for the past few weeks, was all dank gray bars and dim lighting. It had definitely never had artificial lights so bright that I could still see it burning under my eyelids, multicolored dots and shapes dancing amongst the usual black, which raised the question of where the hell I currently was.

I drew in a deep breath through my nose, distantly noting how the rattling in my lungs seemed to have quietened, and slowly reopened my eyes, allowing them to gradually adjust as I tried to gather my bearings.

I was no longer in my cell, that much was obvious.

The room around me was stark white, scarcely furnished, _sterile._ A plain work surface ran around the boundary of the room, microscopes and an assortment of other such objects scattered along the surface. The rest of the room was completely bare, spare the metal gurney I was currently led on and the one positioned a couple of feet to the left of me. I almost cried out in relief when I took in Bucky's familiar features from where he lay there. He looked different from the last time I'd seen him, healthier almost. The color was starting to seep back into his previously pallid complexion and his breathing seemed to come with more ease.

I tried to roll off of my gurney, to go to him and check he was okay, but I didn't even make it an inch before I was abruptly stopped by the set of restraints that had previously gone unnoticed in my confusion, firmly tying down my chest, wrists and ankles. Panic clawed up my throat and I hissed, desperately trying to yank myself free of the metal constraints. I thrashed, pulled, wiggled, thrashed some more. But it was no use. The cuffs didn't loosen in the slightest, holding strong, and all I achieved was making one hell of a racket. My body slumped back down in defeat, chest aching dully from the brief struggle.

"Anna…?"

My head snapped in the direction of the slurred murmur, the familiar voice like a soothing balm on my frayed nerves. "Bucky," I breathed in relief. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy," he muttered lowly. I stifled the laugh that rose in my throat as he blinked and looked around us. "Where the hell are we?"

I shrugged as best I could whilst lying down and restrained. "No idea." Short, uneven footsteps sounded in the hallway outside, growing louder as they approached. "But I have a feeling we're about to find out."

Our attention fixated on the entrance to the laboratory as the footsteps drew to a brief stop and the door swung open, revealing a short, bespectacled man wearing a stark white lab coat. He shut the door behind him as he shuffled into the room, pausing briefly in surprise when he noticed the two pairs of eyes watching him.

"Oh, you're finally awake," he murmured, seemingly pleased with this development. His voice was heavily accented, but not the harsh German I had become so accustomed to hearing over the past few weeks. I couldn't quite place my finger on it though. Austrian, maybe? "Good."

A frown fell over my face as I slowly registered what he'd just said. "Finally?"

"You have both been unconscious for two days, Fräulein." He tutted slightly. "I was starting to get impatient."

I grimaced at his words and shot him a hard glare. "Where the hell are we?"

He walked over to the side of the room and calmly picked up a clipboard, appearing as though he hadn't heard me. "Do you know who I am?" he asked. At the answering silence from the two, he frowned. "Doctor Armin Zola, lead scientist for HYDRA and greatest mind of this era."

"Greatest mind?" I scoffed loudly, yanking at my restraints. Abe held the position of greatest mind, even in death. I'd always believed that, and always would. "You're no more than a man playing at things he doesn't understand."

In truth, I had no idea what he was trying to do, or what he was capable of. But at this point I didn't much care. I just wanted to anger him, to show him that we wouldn't simply lie down without a fight.

"We shall see, Fräulein," he murmured softly, unperturbed. "We shall see."

"Why don't you take these restraints off and then we'll see where you stand?" Bucky growled, eyes glinting in challenge. "Or, more specifically, where you _don't._ "

"You two have spirit," Zola observed. "Good." I didn't like the look on his face. "Let's see how long it lasts."

"You're going to be waiting a long time." I bared my teeth slightly. "We're Americans. Stubborn is what we do."

"Technically, I'm part-Irish," Bucky muttered under his breath. I shot him a look, barely repressing an exasperated eye roll.

My attention quickly snapped back to Zola when he took a step forwards, unconsciously tensing. "Why?"

I didn't quite know what I was asking. Why do you need test subjects? Why, more specifically, do you need _us?_ Why bother wasting medicine on treating our pneumonia? (Because surely, with the sudden boost in our health, that was exactly what he was currently doing.) Why not just let us die?

Maybe I was asking all of the above. Or maybe I just didn't specify which because I didn't truly want to know the answer.

Zola, unfortunately, seemed to understand the meaning behind my question. "Science," he answered simply. The response didn't relax me in the slightest. He sighed and tilted his head, eyes glazing over in thought. "All this time, I've been using those who are strong in body. But maybe… maybe that's where I've been going wrong. Maybe it has nothing to do with the physicality at all, and everything to do with the strength of one's psyche."

Bucky tensed further at the words and strained against the straps holding him down. "What do you want from us?" he snapped, fixing the doctor with a hard glare.

Zola smiled, eyes gleaming with an emotion that caused my insides to twist with dread. "I want you to _survive_."

XxXxXx

 ** _October 25th, 1943_**

The moment I started to come to, I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what, or how, or why. But I knew something wasn't right. I could feel it in the way the hairs on my arms were stood on end and in the heavy weight that was settled deep within my gut. My fever, the crackling in my chest, the pounding headaches—it was all gone. The near constant metallic twang of blood had disappeared from my mouth and the overwhelming exhaustion had finally faded. Yet none of that mattered, for the moment I opened my eyes, I figured out what was missing and my whole body felt like it had been doused in ice-cold water.

"B'cky… Where's Bucky?" I murmured, squinting my eyes to stare at the place next to me that he had occupied for the past few days. But no matter how hard I blinked, willing the image before me to be no more than a mirage, a mere trick of the mind, nothing changed. It remained empty, bare, desolate. He was gone.

 _No…_

I jolted against the restraints, twisting my head in every direction as I desperately, futilely, searched again for his familiar form. The weight in my gut twisted and coiled with icy fear, pressing down until I momentarily lost the ability to breathe. It was ironic, really, how I felt healthier than I had in weeks, normal even, and yet I felt worse than I ever had when I was ill. Ever since I'd left with the 107th—all through the front lines of Azzano, the capture by HYDRA, the beating from Lohmer, the pneumonia—he'd unconsciously, at some point, become my safety net. My anchor, as it were. As long as he was there, I somehow knew that I'd be okay, that we'd make it through. It was a small comfort, but it was arguably the most important one. He'd given me _hope._

Hope that we'd find a way out of this mess. Hope that I would go home and see my loved ones again. Hope that this wasn't the miserable end for us all.

And now… now some HYDRA _bastard_ had taken him away from me. Just like they'd taken Abe.

Zola stepped closer and I thrashed wildly, bucking my hips and pulling against the metal cuffs holding me down with everything I had. A jolt of pain shot through my wrists and something warm started to trickle down my hands as the metal cuffs tore into my skin, but I didn't stop. I just thrashed harder. _I had to get out. I had to find Bucky. I had to make sure he was okay._

Zola took another step closer, tutting disapprovingly as he watched my futile struggle. "We both know that's pointless. You're only hurting yourself, Fräulein."

I bared my teeth at him, snarling wildly as I defiantly fought harder to free myself. "What did you do to him?" I screeched. "What did you _do?"_

"I have done nothing." I tried to ignore the silent _yet_ ringing in the air. "Now that you've both successfully recovered from your pneumonia, you've been separated for the… different experiments."

I clenched my jaw and tried to launch myself at him to no avail. "I swear to God, if you've hurt him, I'll kill you. I will rip you apart with my _bare hands_ —"

"Now, now, Fräulein—"

"Don't _call_ me that," I snarled, tugging harder against my restraints and giving him a fierce glare. I bit back the tears and hid the pain that flared up deep within me at the word, the hundreds of times Abe had called me that over the years ringing hauntingly in my head.

"Tssk," he tutted lightly. "Don't Americans get taught how to respect their superiors?"

"Of course we do." I bared my teeth again in a feral smile. "Shame you're not one of them."

Zola clenched his jaw at the jibe and reached into his breast-pocket. I started thrashing wildly again when he withdrew his hand, my eyes locking onto the object held within his grasp.

"We'll have to work on your manners," Zola chuckled, reaching out to hold my arm still. I tried to rip it out of his grip, but it was no use. "This may hurt a little."

There was a slight pinch as the needle sank into my skin, and then burning fire started to seep through my veins.

XxXxXx

 ** _October 30th, 1943_**

Pain. There was so much pain.

Sense of time became lost to me. Hours, days, years could have passed and I would know no different. It felt like an eternity had come and gone, yet the end was still nowhere in sight.

I could feel myself slipping away, slowly but surely. With each fire that was injected into my veins, with each hour that passed, I felt a little piece of me float away. I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare. One unending nightmare that plagued me in my waking hours and in my sleep. _What was real? What was fake? How long had I been here? Hours? Weeks? Months? Where was Bucky? Was he okay? Was he_ ** _alive?_**

All questions I couldn't answer, all subjective. There was nothing I could be sure about, nothing solid, nothing factual. And I needed that more than anything right now. I needed something to cling onto, something resolute and unchanging that I could hold close to my chest and keep myself sane with. A tether to anchor me down and keep me grounded in this confusion of pain and fear.

 _Facts. Think of the facts. What do I know?_

My name… My name was Anna Fahlett. I'm an agent of the S.S.R. I was born in Queens, New York. My best friends are Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. Both my parents died when I was young. My favorite drink is Scotch. I used to be laughed at when I was younger for wanting to join the war. I lost my two front teeth when I was seven getting into a fight over it.

Abe… I lost Abe. No, not lost, he was murdered. Murdered before my eyes. Murdered by HYDRA. HYDRA… Captured… I was captured by HYDRA… Italy? Austria? Why was I there? Was that my home? No— Queens. I was from Queens. I met Steve at the Expo. Howard and Peggy are my best friends. Anna. My name was Anna.

A small thud had me blearily opening my eyes, a quiet groan escaping my lips as I slowly blinked to try and focus my vision. The now familiar laboratory swam into view, as cold and sterile as ever.

"Ah, you're awake. Good."

I didn't have to look to recognize that accented voice, I'd heard it so often now that I'd be able to pinpoint it through a crowded room, but I rolled my head to the side anyway, not liking having him out of my line of sight. Zola was stood by a small desk on one side of the room, eyes fixated intently on something on its surface. His gaze flickered to me for the briefest of moments as he picked up a small, square piece of paper and stepped out from behind the desk.

"You know, I thought you looked familiar, Fräulein. But I couldn't quite put my finger on how." He glanced down at the piece of paper in his hands and walked closer. "Today, I finally figured it out."

He turned the piece of paper around, revealing a photo. I bit my lip hard to try and bite down the cry that wanted to escape me at the image. The two people in the photo were unaware of the camera, walking down the street together arm in arm. The older man was looking down at the woman with a warm smile on his face, his eyes twinkling in their oh-so-familiar way as she laughed happily at something he'd said.

 _Abe…_

I blinked slowly, swallowing the burning tears that rose behind my eyes, and tore my gaze away from Abe's face, knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep control of my emotions if I stared at him for a second longer. Almost unconsciously, my gaze turned to the female next to him instead. The woman there looked happy, glowing almost, as if she didn't have a care in the world. There was a light to her eyes that seemed to glimmer brightly even through the black-and-white photograph and her smile was boundless.

I barely even recognized myself.

"Dr. Erskine's assistant in my lab and about to become the new fist of HYDRA. Ironic, no?"

I glared, tearing my eyes away from the photograph, and spat in his face, not caring about the inevitable consequences. "Go to hell."

Zola's eyes hardened as he retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his cheek and forehead. "You Americans never learn," he sighed, shaking his head.

He moved over to where there was a small rack of vials on the other side of the room and carefully removed one with unnerving delicacy. Zola stared at it for a moment, muttering something indiscernible under his breath, before he turned and approached me once more. His eyes were cold and calculating as he picked up a clean syringe and filled it with the liquid from the vial.

I tensed, heart pounding, as I stared at the syringe. The tinctures he usually injected me with were pale, translucent. Not tinted a pale blue like this one. "What is that?" I breathed, trying to flinch away as he gripped my arm.

Zola's sly smile was the only response I got before the needle pierced my skin and the fire—cold, it was cold this time, was that even possible?—started to burn through me once more.

XxXxXx

 ** _November 1st, 1943_**

Name. Name…

Gracie? Grace? No… Annie. Annie Fahlett. No, that wasn't right— Anna. My name was Anna. I'm American, an agent of the S.S.R. I had friends… A dark-haired man. Flirty, arrogant, smart. An inventor? Yes, he invented things… And there was a female? Scottish? No, not Scottish— English. She was English. She loved red dresses and dancing. She was strong, independent, _stubborn_. So similar to me in so many ways. Or was she? Was I strong? I didn't feel strong. Maybe I used to be… But not anymore. No, not anymore.

I was afraid. I was afraid of so many things.

I was afraid of the cold fire that burned through my veins. I was afraid of the blue light that flashed behind my eyelids. I was afraid of never seeing my friends again. I was afraid of never going home. I was afraid of forgetting who I was. I was afraid of giving in. I was afraid of _dying._

No, I definitely wasn't strong. I was weak. I was scared. I was alone.

I wanted it all to stop, to end. Why wouldn't it stop?

Footsteps echoed in my ears, drawing closer. The familiar short, slightly uneven, rhythm caused me to tense. He was here. He was going to put me on fire again. _No._ I shook my head. _I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't… I couldn't…_

"Time to wake up, Fräulein. We have a busy day ahead of us."

 _No, no, no, no. Not again. Please, not again._ I tensed and kept my eyes closed, not wanting to open them. Maybe if I just kept them shut, if I just willed it hard enough, he would disappear and I would be left in peace.

There was a sigh. "Still uncooperative, I see. Shame," he tutted. "No matter. We shall continue."

A whimper involuntarily escaped my lips as the needle pinched into my neck and the horribly familiar cold fire started to seep through my veins. I clenched my jaw and grit my teeth together, biting back the scream that was trying to claw its way up my throat. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry. I didn't want to be weak anymore. I wanted to be _strong_.

There was another pinch in the other side of my neck and the scream ripped its way out of my throat against my will as the second round of fire clashed and mixed with the first, burning a hundred times hotter. I tried to move, to run from the pain, but I couldn't lift my limbs. I couldn't get away. I couldn't escape the molten lava that was incinerating my very being from the inside out.

Something heavy started weighing down on my mind and I felt myself losing my fragile grip on reality. Maybe if I just gave in, if I just sunk into the darkness, if I just did what was asked of me, maybe then the pain would stop. Maybe then they wouldn't torture me and drag me through the deepest pits of Hell day after day. I just had to follow orders, be a good soldier… Soldier… I knew a soldier… A good soldier… The _best_ soldier… Favorite, he was my favorite… Short, blonde, stubborn as they come. Brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen in my goddamn life… Name… What was his name?

Simon? Sam? Scott? No, no, no. Ugh. Damn it, Anna, _think!_ It was… Ste… Steven? Yes, Steven! _Steve._ I remember him now. Stubborn, loyal, passionate, kind—God, he was so, so kind. I remember how strong his morals were, how clear his view of right and wrong was. I remember how he was a fighter, despite everything holding him back, and how he never gave up… He never gave up…

If he could only see me now. Would he be disappointed in me for being so weak? Would he turn away in disgust and lose all faith in me? _No,_ I shook the thoughts off instantly. _He wouldn't do that. Not Steve. He was too good a person, too kind, to ever do that to anyone._ And while I knew that was true, I also knew he'd hate it. He'd hate seeing me give in and stop fighting. He'd hate seeing me lose _hope_.

What did I always tell him? "You can do this. I believe in you. Never give up." I felt like such a hypocrite. How could I tell others to do something I couldn't even do myself? But he had done it, hadn't he? He had never given up, and he had come out on top at the end of it all. Steve… I just had to be more like Steve… I had to _fight…_

I couldn't give in. I couldn't.

Anna. My name is Anna. I'm an agent of the S.S.R. I was born in Queens, New York. _Breathe, don't give in._ Anna. Born in Queens. Agent of the S.S.R. _Don't scream, don't move, don't give in._ Anna. Queens. Agent. _Deep breaths._ Anna. Queens. Agent. _Fight it. Don't give in. Be strong._ Anna. Quee—

My internal mantra was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.

"Doctor Zola… progress…"

"Serum… energy transfusion… levels stabilized, but… complication… proceed…"

XxXxXx

 ** _November 3rd, 1943_**

Steve sat on a set of wooden steps leading down from the back exit of the stage, alone with nothing but a notebook and pencil in hand. The weather seemed to be reflecting his mood perfectly; dark gray clouds were overhead and icy rain was pounding down relentlessly around him. He sighed and darkened a line on the page, making the image of the dancing monkey he'd drawn stand out boldly against the stark white paper. The sketch was more self-reflective than he'd like to admit—for that was what he was now, wasn't it? A dancing monkey. No more, no less.

He paused, pencil hovering over the page, and wondered how his life had come to this. Flashes of the last performance still echoed in his mind: the tomatoes that had been thrown at him, the cry for the girls to come back on stage, the mockery from the men. It was a far cry from the reception he was used to receiving. Five months he'd been on this 'morale-boosting' tour with the USO. City after city. Performance after performance. He'd been to the U.K., Buffalo, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City… And now, finally, Italy. It was the first time he'd performed for soldiers of the war, for men that had actually gone out and _fought,_ and their less-than-impressed reactions brought home exactly how far he'd fallen.

Had Erskine spent his entire life creating the serum, _dying_ for the serum, for him to become no more than a novelty act? Steve didn't even have to think to know the answer to that question. He was meant to be more than this, he knew that. What was the point of being the only successful super-soldier if he wasn't allowed to even _fight_ in this damn war? He stared down at the dancing monkey and frowned. This… This wasn't what he'd wanted. He should've listened to Anna when she'd tried to warn him what Brandt meant, but he'd been so _sure_ it was the right choice.

 _Anna_ … His chest ached slightly at the thought of the dark-haired woman. For the first few months after they'd parted ways, they had sent each other letters as often as possible. They were usually only short and consisting of nothing more than lighthearted topics, but he had never particularly minded. She cared enough to keep in contact with him, and that was all that mattered to Steve. Just hearing from her had always brightened his day, his _week_ even, and he'd always sent his responding letter off the first chance he got, in the hopes it would make her reply come ever faster. He'd kept all the letters she sent, every single one. He wasn't sure why, and he sure as hell would _never_ tell anyone that, but he found a certain comfort in reading her words whenever he started to feel low. She'd always signed her letters _"Remember, Steve: You can do anything. Anna"._ And just reading that, remembering all the times she'd told him those words in person, brought him hope whenever he needed it.

He supposed that was why he felt the absence of her regular letters like a dull ache in his chest. He hadn't heard from her in weeks now and it worried him. There had been no explanation, no reason for her sudden disappearance. One day they'd just… stopped. He still sent her letters every week to the base in England she'd been reassigned to all those months ago, detailing which city he would be visiting next so she'd be able to contact him if she wanted. But he hadn't heard a word.

Footsteps drew his attention back to the world around him, the soft click of low heels on the raised platform behind him reaching his ears over the constant downpour of rain. He glanced up from his notebook, turning back to see a flash of dark hair. For the briefest moment, he couldn't help but think it was Anna approaching him, but then he focused on the woman's features and his heart dropped slightly despite himself.

"Hello, Steve."

The smooth British accent rang softly through the air and he smiled slightly in greeting, glad to see a familiar face, even if it wasn't the one he wanted to see most. "Hi." He couldn't keep the slight surprise out of his voice, wondering why Peggy was in Italy, not England, and standing before him.

"Hi," she repeated quietly, folding the long coat she was carrying over her arm and taking a seat on a random prop near the top of the stairs.

When she made no other move to speak, Steve tilted his head slightly in question. "What are you doing here?"

"Officially, I'm not here at all." Her eyes fell to where her hands were folded in her lap, tightly gripping one another. Steve couldn't help but notice that something seemed different about her. "That was quite a performance."

"Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat, unconsciously glancing back down at the drawing in his hand. "I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I'm used to are usually a little more, uh… twelve."

"And I understand you're America's new hope."

"Bond sales take a ten-percent bump in every state I visit," Steve said monotonously, reciting the words he'd been told over and over again whenever he questioned the USO how exactly this was the 'most important battlefield of the war'.

Peggy wasn't fooled. "Is that Senator Brandt I hear?"

"At least he's got me doing this," Steve sighed. The words didn't sound convincing even to his own ears. "Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab."

"And these are your only two options?" Peggy questioned, finally looking up from her hands to raise a brow. Steve opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He had no argument to that. Hell, he'd been thinking along similar lines only mere minutes ago. Peggy glanced down at the drawing he still held in his hands. "A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know."

He turned his gaze back to her at the quiet words and noticed for the first time how pale and drawn she looked in the muted light. Her blue eyes met his for a brief moment before returning to her hands clenched in her lap. But that fleeting glimpse had been enough for Steve to see the red lines in her bloodshot eyes and the dark circles dusting underneath them. She looked emotionally spent, exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in days. He bit down the questions that wanted to escape his mouth, not wanting to overstep a boundary by prying into her personal life.

The downpour of heavy rain was the only sound between them for a few minutes. Peggy eventually raised her eyes once more, noticing the look on his face. "What?"

Steve shook his head, swallowing back the burning questions he wanted to ask her. Instead, he gestured to the dancing monkey drawing and sighed. "You know, for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted… And I'm wearing tights."

Peggy gave him a sympathetic look, opening her mouth to respond when a loud car honk in the distance caught both their attention. Steve watched as medics rushed out of a large tent to the truck that had pulled up outside, frantically calling out orders as they helped injured soldiers off the back of the truck and inside the makeshift medical ward.

Steve frowned and let out a low sigh. "They look like they've been through hell."

Steve, still watching the medics and injured men, missed Peggy's flinch at the words. "These men more than most," she murmured softly. She cleared her throat and swallowed back the tears rising behind her eyes. "Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him, and less than fifty returned." Her hands clenched tighter in her lap. "Your audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were killed or captured."

Steve straightened abruptly, not hearing the crack of emotion in Peggy's voice on the last few words in his panic, his mind caught on one thing. "The 107th? Are you sure?" he questioned frantically, spinning to face the dark-haired agent. Cold fear trickled down his spine when Peggy nodded.

"Steve, there's something you should know…" she started, but Steve was already shooting to his feet, notebook forgotten on the steps behind him.

"Sorry, Agent Carter. I promise we'll talk later, but I… I need to see Colonel Phillips…"

With that, he took off into the rain without another second to waste, sprinting with inhuman speed to the Commander's tent where he knew Phillips would be.

" _Steve!_ " Peggy called out urgently. She cursed when he didn't so much as glance back, scooping the notebook up on her way down the steps as she jogged after him.

By the time she reached the Colonel's tent, she was completely and utterly drenched. Her dark hair was plastered to her face and neck, clothes sticking uncomfortably to every inch of her body. Peggy barely even noticed, however, too preoccupied by the two men facing off against each other a few feet away.

"Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan," Phillips snarked, looking up from the papers on his desk. "What is your plan today?"

Steve took an anxious step forward. "I need the casualty list from Azzano."

"You don't get to give me orders, son."

"I just need one name," Steve begged lowly. "Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th."

Phillips sighed and pointed his pen at the soaked form of Peggy. "You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy."

"Please tell me if he's alive, sir," Steve jumped in. "B-A-R…"

The Colonel raised a brow and cut him off. "I can spell."

Phillips didn't move for a long moment, studying the blonde in front of him. He'd seen the look in his eye many times before in others. The pain, the fear, the dread. Phillips sighed and got to his feet. "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count," he admitted. "But the name does sound familiar." Phillips paused, a sincere look crossing his features. "I'm sorry."

Steve stumbled back a step, as if the words were a physical blow, and let out a shaky breath. He struggled to rein in his emotions for a moment, swallowing the lump in his throat. "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"

"Yes, it's called 'winning the war'."

Steve frowned. "But if you know where they are, why not at least—"

"They're thirty miles behind the lines," Phillips cut him off with a grunt, "through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save." He leveled Steve with a long look. "I can't risk that just because you have a friend missing and a crush on one woman. But I don't expect you to understand that, because you're a chorus girl."

Steve froze for a moment, thrown by the information he'd just been unknowingly hit with, and glanced back at Peggy. She lowered her eyes, her pained silence all the confirmation Steve needed to know that it was the truth. _Bucky. Anna._ His chest ached painfully, fear settling deep in his gut.

"I think I understand just fine."

XxXxXx

 _Anna… Queens…_

Tired. I was so tired.

 _Agent… Anna…_

How long had I been here?

 _Queens… New York…_

Was the floor shifting? Or was I hallucinating again?

 _Howard… Peggy… Steve…_

Was that footsteps I heard? And… whirring? What was that noise?

 _Anna… Queens…_

The grinding of something metal. The floor shifted again.

 _Anna… Anna… Anna…_

I opened my eyes a crack. There was a moment of disorientation before everything came into sharp focus. Every object and shape clearly defined, detailed, bold. Even the dull monochrome of the lab seemed brighter somehow—glowing, almost. Was everything usually this clear?

 _Anna… Queens… New York…_

The whirring sound got louder. I frowned and twisted my neck, wincing at the stiffness in my muscles. There was a large machine next to me, around me, with large metal cuffs holding me down. Wires were attached to multiple points of my body and a metal helmet was strapped onto my head. My breathing picked up and a small keening sound left my mouth as I tried unsuccessfully to pull myself free.

 _Agent… Queens…_

"Ah, you're awake just in time, Fräulein," a despairingly familiar accent called from a few feet away. I turned my head to look at him, trying to hide the raw fear in my eyes.

"I told you, _don't_ call me that," I snapped lowly, my voice slightly hoarse with disuse. I tried to glare at him, tried to fill myself with anger, in a desperate attempt to hide the terror coiling in my gut.

"I see keeping you sedated hasn't checked that attitude," Zola sighed in faux sadness. "No matter, no matter. We'll fix that later."

"Like hell you will," I spat.

Zola merely smiled, a knowing glint to his eye that set my nerves on edge and made my throat constrict in fear. He picked something up from the table in front of him after making a few more adjustments to the machine I was attached to and made his way over to my side. I glared at him as he raised his hand to trace the side of my face, internally cursing myself a thousand times over when my body instinctively flinched away from his touch.

"You may be needing this, Fräulein," he commented, raising his other hand to show the object he held. A small piece of wood was in his hand, two pieces of fabric attached to either end. I frowned in confusion before realization slowly started to dawn on me. My eyes flew back up to his in horror. He merely smiled again and pried my chin open with one hand, slipping the wood between my teeth and securing the fabric behind my head before I could even think to react. "We wouldn't want you to injure yourself now, would we?" he murmured slyly.

 _Anna… Queens… Agent…_ I took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the pounding of my heart, clenching my teeth down on the wood placed between them anxiously.

Zola turned and picked up a vial to his left. It shone an unnatural blue in the fluorescent light. "This… This could be the key, Fräulein," he breathed, staring down at the vial with something akin to wonder. Was it… Was it _glowing?_

"Wha— mhhhm— fu— mhhp—" I tried to question, but the wooden gag in my mouth made the words come out an unintelligible mess.

Zola merely smiled, his eyes gleaming again in that way that unnerved me to my core, and filled a clean syringe with the unnatural blue liquid. I let out a muffled cry, redoubling my efforts to wriggle out of my restraints. It was useless though, and the next thing I knew, the needle was piercing the skin of my neck and the contents of the syringe was emptied into my veins. My heart rate rocketed, terror clutching at me with an iron grip, as the unknown liquid seeped through my bloodstream. It was cold, so cold, cold like I'd never felt before. That type of cold that numbed you to the point of no feeling, and yet incinerated every inch of you with unforgiving molten fire.

I could feel it spreading every inch through my body. First down my neck, then my chest, then my arms… By the time it reached my legs, my teeth were clamped down on the wooden gag so harshly I swore I felt it splinter in my mouth. And by the time it reached my toes, it started to burn ten times worse than before.

 _Anna... Queens... Agent..._

I screamed.

XxXxXx

"The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges," Peggy explained, pointing to the location on the map she held. "It's a factory of some kind."

Howard glanced over his shoulder from the cockpit. "We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep."

"Just get me as close as you can," Steve called back with a grateful nod. He turned back to face Peggy with a sigh. "You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble when you land."

Peggy shrugged. Truthfully, she hadn't given much thought to what would happen when she and Howard returned to base. And quite honestly, in that moment, she didn't much care. If it worked, if it meant Anna came home safe and sound, then she'd do it all a thousand times over. No matter the consequence. "And you won't?"

Steve shrugged. "Where I'm going, if anybody yells at me, I can just shoot them."

"They will undoubtedly shoot back."

"Well," Steve hit his prop stage shield from where it was resting beside him, "let's hope it's good for something."

Peggy opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off by Howard's flirty voice ahead. "Agent Carter! If we're not in too much of a hurry on the way back, I thought you could fill in for Annie and we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue."

He threw a halfhearted smirk and wink over his shoulder at her, eyebrow raised in question. Steve tensed beside her, but Peggy merely eyed Howard with concern, choosing not to comment on how his eyes seemed hollow and tired, or the way his mouth was almost unnoticeably tightened in worry.

"Way to make me feel like second best, Howard!" Peggy called back, trying to keep the atmosphere lighthearted, but her words sounded strained even to her own ears. She shook her head slightly, swallowing her emotions, and turned back to where Steve was sat rigidly opposite her. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace. We're lucky to have him."

Steve nodded his head distractedly at her words, looking over at Howard with a frown before returning his gaze to Peggy. "So, do those two… Anna and Stark, I mean… Do they… fondue?"

Peggy stared at him in silence for a few seconds after he'd finished stuttering out his question and waving his hands around in Stark's general direction, eyebrows raising. "All the time," she replied slowly, unsure why he was concerned with Anna and Howard's eating habits when they were currently minutes away from flying over enemy territory. "It's kind of their thing."

Steve let out a choking sound at the response, looking almost horrified as he gripped the seat under him. Peggy eyed his erratic behavior with a frown and wondered what the hell had gotten into him. _Nerves?_ she wondered. A low sigh escaped her lips, knowing they couldn't afford for him to lose his grip on himself now. "This is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you."

Peggy held up the aforementioned object and passed it over to Steve, who took a deep breath and straightened. He looked over the transponder in his hands, forcing himself to focus back on the mission. "Are you sure this thing works?"

Howard snorted. "It's been tested more than you, pal."

Steve had no time to respond before a sudden explosion rocked the plane violently. He flung his hands out to brace himself against the harsh tremors, Peggy doing the same across from him. The moment the aircraft stabilized again, he was on his feet and grabbing his shield, moving towards the back of the plane without a second thought.

"Get back here!" Peggy called out, jumping to her feet and following after him. "We're taking you all the way in!"

Steve ignored her, opening the small door and positioning himself so he was sat with his legs hanging out into the dark sky. "As soon as I'm clear, you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!"

"You can't give me orders!" Peggy argued. She grabbed onto a metal bar next to the open hatch to steady herself, dark hair whipping violently around her in the strong winds.

"The hell I can't!" Steve gave a half-smile. "I'm a Captain!"

"Steve!" Peggy grabbed his arm just as he started to tip forwards, stopping him from jumping. Her eyes were heavy with unspoken emotion as his gaze met hers. "Bring her home."

Steve's eyes momentarily softened before he gave a determined nod and flung himself out of the plane without a second thought.

XxXxXx

Zola leaned forwards, fascinated, watching her every move intently as she thrashed and struggled against the restraints pinning her down. _This… This time would work,_ he thought. He could feel it. It had to. He'd exhausted all other options.

A raw scream rent the air and her back arched unnaturally as her body started to convulse in violent tremors. He frowned. This was not quite the reaction he'd expected. But then, he hadn't known what to expect. It was impossible to predict the full outcome of his experiment, he'd known that when he'd started. Mutating it had been a risk, given, but Zola hadn't become the greatest mind of this era by limiting himself to boundaries. For a moment, he swore he saw her veins shimmer the same unnerving shade of unearthly blue, but when he blinked and pushed his glasses further up his nose, nothing but pale skin stared back at him.

It was mere minutes later when her thrashing suddenly intensified, muscles convulsing at an increased rate from before, eyes wild with pain. She screamed against the wooden gag in her mouth once more, back arching, before she jolted violently and her piercing cry abruptly cut off, body falling limp against the gurney.

Zola let out a breath as the room fell eerily silent. "No," he muttered, taking a small step forward. Disappointment curled through him as he stared at her still form.

A sudden screeching sound wailing loudly through the building caused him to jump and let out a startled cry, the clipboard he held clattering to the floor. He barely had time to collect himself before Schmidt was barging into the room, the warning alarms growing louder through the open door.

"Go collect your work, Doctor. We are under attack." When the smaller man didn't immediately move, Schmidt shot him an impatient glare. " _Now,_ Dr. Zola."

"But, the girl—" Zola started, still frozen mid-way to the table where she lay.

Schmidt took one glance at her unmoving body and raised an unimpressed brow. "I think you'll find she's dead," he snapped. "Leave her. We have the only thing that matters." He gestured to the box he had just carefully placed the Tesseract in.

"One moment—" He quickly approached and placed his fingers to her neck, just wanting to be certain _._ He sighed after a few seconds and shook his head. No pulse. He took a step back and let his hand fall back to his side in disappointment. _He had been so sure…_

Gun shots started to echo faintly in the distance and Schmidt growled impatiently, grabbing the Tesseract box and heading to the door. Zola took one last disappointed look at the woman laying lifelessly on the table before he sighed and nodded, following Schmidt out of the room as they shortly detoured to the surveillance room.

"I take it your experiment was unsuccessful?"

"Yes," Zola admitted, rubbing the bridge of his nose in disappointment. "It appears it was too much for the human body to endure."

Schmidt glanced at him before making his way over to the controls of the room. "It is of no consequence now."

He glanced at one of the screens streaming the outside surveillance cameras, noting how it appeared that a few of the escaped POWs had hijacked one of their tanks and was erratically shooting bursts of Tesseract energy at various trucks and other transportation vehicles. He flicked the protective guards off of the series of large red buttons on the control panel before him, slamming his hand down onto each one without a second thought.

"No, no," Zola breathed, rushing forward. He stared at the seven-minute countdown warning in horror. "What are you doing?"

Schmidt gestured to the screen he had previously been watching. "Our forces are outmatched," he said plainly.

He turned and grabbed the box containing the Tesseract once more, gesturing over his shoulder for Zola to follow him as he exited the room. "Hurry, doctor," he drawled. "We don't have much time."

Zola took one last look at the chaos on the screens, dabbing nervously at his forehead with his handkerchief, before he obediently hurried out after Schmidt, heading to where the aircraft were kept to the east of the factory.

Unbeknownst to them both, back in the lab they had just left, a gasp escaped chapped lips and a pair of eyes flew open, temporarily burning an unnatural blue before fading into their familiar light gray as a bolt of energy shot through her veins, kick-starting her heart into action once more.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **…Heya guys! I'm baaaaaack. *nervous smile* I literally cannot apologise enough for the long wait on this chapter, or thank you enough for how incredibly understanding and supportive you've all been about it. I could blab on and on about how life has been so completely and utterly crazy hectic with university, work, social life etc., but I just want you guys to know how amazingly grateful I feel for having you amazing human beings as my readers. I seriously can't even put into words how much your support means to me. You're all the absolute best and I love you all! :)**

 **I thought I'd try to apologise by giving you guys a ridiculously long chapter to try and make up for it (like seriously, this thing has a word count of just under 12000, which is roughly 20 pages on word). *sad puppy eyes* Apology accepted?**

 **I also just wanted to take this moment to point out that _yes_ , Zola has experimented on Anna, but _no_ , Anna will NOT become some OP OC (okay, there were too many acronyms going on there) Mary Sue. Don't worry, I'm not going to give any spoilers, I just wanted to make that clear now to save any confusion. **

**Timeline**

 **The only date that is actually canon is Steve leaving on a—let's face it—slightly suicidal mission to save the captured POWs, including Bucky, from the Austrian HYDRA factory on November 3rd. All of the other dates used in this chapter were purely random.**

 **Oh, I also just wanted to mention that there is nothing I can find that states Bucky's heritage (the half-Irish line just kind of popped out because I felt like it was something he'd say just to be sassy if nothing else). I know there's the whole debate about whether Bucky is Irish Catholic (like canon Steve), Anglican, Jewish, or of protestant descent, amongst other things. However, I really won't be touching upon religion or heritage at all within this story, so let's just roll with that lol.**

 **Translations**

 **As always, google translate was used so if any of this is incorrect then I apologise. If you know the correct translations, then let me know and I will change it.**

 ** _'Non… Non, s'il vous plaît, non…'_ = No… No, please, no…**

 ** _'Trop tard… Nous sommes trop en retard… Ils les ont… Ils les ont…'_ = Too late… We're too late… They have them… They have them…**

 **Sneak Peeks**

 **So, to all of those who received a sneak preview of this chapter, you may have noticed that I changed the setting of the whole "they're taking the sick ones" scene. This was purely due to Jim Morita somehow weaselling his way into the story early. I literally had no intention of introducing him yet (I'm not planning on him having a massive role in this fic, so I hadn't really given it much thought), but apparently he had different plans and now here we are. *shrugs***

 **Oh, and I was also thinking of continuing to do sneak peeks every chapter to all my lovely reviewers since the first lot went so well lol. What do you guys think? Something you'd be interested in?**

 **Reviews**

 **Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed! I'm still a little in shock due to how much amazing support this story has received. Again, thank you all so much for being incredible human beings! Due to these A/N's starting to become so long (sorry for my incessant babbling haha), I've been PM'ing my responses to all those that review with accounts. To all my lovely guest reviewers, here we go:**

 ** _Kimberley: I know, writing the hallucination scene literally hurt my heart too haha. I'm putting it all down to the sad music I was listening to whilst writing. Safe to say I've banned myself from ever doing it again. ;) Thank you so, so much for your review! I made sure to add some more over-protective Howling Commandos moments in this chapter for you. Hope you enjoy! x_**

 ** _Guest: Thank you! Sorry for the long wait, but hope you like it!_**

 ** _Jo: Haha, that they do. Here's them causing a little more chaos. ;) So, I was going to have Steve rescue them this chapter… But then somehow all this happened and it was getting ridiculously long and yeah, just yeah. Sorry, lovely! I promise he'll be there to save them next chapter though! As always, thank you so much for your review! *hugs*_**

 ** _Anonymous: It's a bit late, but here you go! :)_**

 ** _Guest: Oh my gosh, you have no idea how much I love your review! The fact that you have read this story three times means the absolute world to me and I literally cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate your support! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really hope you enjoy this chapter just as much and I'm so sorry for the long wait, lovely._**

—

 **So… Anna and Bucky have been having some seriously crappy luck recently. I'm starting to feel a little bad. Or am I? Maybe I should throw a little more misery their way *evil smile*. Nah, I'm just kidding. I feel like there's been a little too much doom and gloom happening recently, so you'll be pleased to know I have some happier chapters (*gasp*) on the near horizon.**

 **What did you guys think of this chapter? We _finally_ got a little glimpse of Steve again, the soon-to-be Howling Commandos were up to their usual antics, Zola (ugh) made his appearance… Unfortunately, we didn't see as much of Bucky, but he'll be in the next chapter a lot more (promise!). **

**Anyway, I think I've ranted on enough now. I'm going, I'm going.**

 **Until next time! x**


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